GUARDIAN
by Dev's L's
Summary: Abarai Renji dreamt of a man with red eyes, a man who gave him a vague foreshadowing of his imminent future... A man who also shared Kuchiki Byakuya's face. His life went on a downward spiral when Aizen Sousuke abducted him in pursuit of power, and perhaps, something that went beyond his ultimate goal to end the Soul King. -ByaRen-
1. Chapter 1 - Perception

Prologue - Deity

* * *

"_He will never survive there!" a figure of light snapped, their arm-like appendage, glowing in **red** fury, swung through the air and creating powerful gusts of wind. Somewhere far below, a small village was hit by a powerful tornado that decimated everything in its path._

_The catastrophe was so sudden, it happened so swiftly, that the villagers couldn't see it coming until it was knocking on their doors. __They were scattered around like rocks on a dirt road, some were running for safety, clutching on to their treasures and loved ones while praying to the _Gods _for mercy. Others weren't so fortunate; their bodies hanging on top of trees like livestock in a slaughterhouse, some villagers were still twitching where they lay on the ground, their wounds gaping and **red **from the impacts their body suffered when they were strewn around by the force of the wind. In a matter of minutes, the once peaceful village was no more._

"_Calm your mind," an imposing figure spoke, Their voice a low timbre as if to soothe the figure shrouded in fuming vermillion light. They lifted both of Their hands in the air and started to move said appendages this way and that, creating a large orb glimmering in a dim, green glow. On the surface of the orb showed the village destroyed by an A_ct of God.

"_You are hurting the humans."_

_The figure of light snapped out of their wrathful thoughts, as if in realization, and the **red** light they emitted grew dim and then faded into nothingness, replaced by a dull white glow. Their feature showed remorse, however, a hint of restrained anger visible in their eyes._

"_Forgive me, Father." they spoke, quietly bowing their head in petulant obedience._

_The other Figure remained silent as They concentrate on the green orb, Their right hand splayed on the surface, fingers moving around the orb in a counter-clockwise motion. For a while, the Figure remained still, waiting._

_A bright green light shrouded the orb for a split second, and then it disappeared like mist, taking the orb with it. As if time was_ stopped,_ and winded back by an __invisible hand, pieces of matter emerged from under the rubbles caused by a natural disaster that once struck the land. Scattered bits of wood and metal zipping through the wind_, _slowly but surely mending together to form the beginning of manmade structures __as the sun seemingly inched _East. _And just like a fetus's first heartbeat, slow and sure yet decidedly miraculous, life bursts throughout the entire area. The sun was back on its path of sure descend to the West, and a small village was bustling in peaceful ignorance of what their would-be fate._

"_Father—"_

"_Silence." the Figure said, finally facing Their errant progeny. They remained unblinking, Their glowing feature showing disappointment and understanding. After a moment, They reached up to the displeased youngling and patted their bowed head._

_"It is _necessary_." the Figure said quietly. The Childe stiffened and observed their Father's calm mien._

_"Then _I _will go. In his place."_

_The Figure gazed sadly at the young one. How desperate they were, ready to charge headfirst into what was causing the problem in the first place, to protect what cannot be, _yet_._

_"You know why you could never, my child."_

_The youngling closed their eyes in silent frustration, knowing their Father was right, no matter how badly they wished it to be the opposite, for once._

_"He will not know us." the young one whispered._

_"He _will_. When the time comes."_

_"He will live among _monsters_!" __the Childe insistently countered, "__They will _taint_ him, _corrupt_ him, and turn him into one of them!"_

"_You need to put more faith in him," the Figure said quietly, taking the youngling in Their arms in an act of comfort. But the young one was having none of it._

_Brushing their Father's arms away, the youngling walked to a large pedestal. The Figure sighed and followed Their Childe._

_On top of the pedestal sat a cradle of pure white, its rim frivolously decorated with glowing __**red **__**gems**__ meticulously crafted in the appearance of__ flowering plants**, **__while the outer surface was painstakingly carved with elegant curves and dips to heavenly perfection._

_A small babe lay within, its small body seemingly engulfed by the soft, billowy material supporting its vulnerable body in the bottom of the cradle._

"_I do," the young one murmured in reply, their expression morose, stroking the soft cheek of the sleeping cherub. They smiled as the babe turned in its sleep, a head full of glowing __**red hair **__shifted to hide sweet features under tiny arms._

"_I just don't trust _them_," they finished, piercing **red** orbs gazed into their Father's eyes._

* * *

Chapter 1: Perception

* * *

Abarai Renji knew.

Abarai Renji was not blind.

Abarai Renji understood that his presence can bring a certain degree of unpleasant feeling to some people, especially those who barely knew him, or those who incidentally glanced upon the red-headed lieutenant. Those who saw his fully tattooed body when he was relaxing in the bathhouse, and those who accidentally saw his shark-like grin when he was excited for a new headgear.

Abarai Renji knew that he did not look 'nice'.

'Nice', in the most conventional, purely physical, superficial, kind of way. 'Nice', in the way that Rukia, Captain Unohana, and Captain Ukitake, or even Kurosaki Ichigo could be described. 'Very nice' would be how his captain was categorised by most women in Soul Society, as was Captain Kyoraku by most of the 'mature' women (as Renji traumatically found out), and his friend Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku by practically _all _the hormonal men. 'Nice' in the way normal people would look; sans the tattoos, the unnecessarily 'intimidating' muscles, and wild coloured hair.

'Nice', in a way that Renji just couldn't be.

He loved his tattoos. He spent hours upon hours perfecting them in painful agony of _reiatsu_-imbued needles. It was the latest tattooing method in Soul Society, you see. The ink was embedded _in _to the shinigami's _reiryoku_ layer on their skin, and can only be removed when the bearer specifically released their _reiatsu_ to principally 'attack' the foreign _reiatsu_. Renji had been saving for years since his first admittance into Shino Academy to get his ink work.

Not a lot of people knew this but Abarai Renji possessed a certain degree of artistic talent. It was a shame that he never got into developing those skills further since he was always ever so busy at the Sixth Division barracks and on missions. At least the weekly Calligraphy Club meetings—headed by Kuchiki Byakuya himself—was enough to ease him into some sort of art form—and it helped to improve his handwriting if nothing else. The fact remains, the entirety of his tattoos were designed in a well thought out manner by the redhead himself. They made him look 'bad-ass' as Ikkaku commented later on.

He didn't have much money, however, and the cost of tattooing his entire body turned out to be too much for him in his time in the Academy. Thus, the savings he accumulated could only be used for the tattoo over his brows, the beginning of the many he would eventually bear all across his body throughout his career as a shinigami.

But no matter how 'bad-ass' he knows his tattoos were, they ended up making him 'difficult' on the eyes of strangers. One glance and a group of rowdy teens in Rukongai would scamper away from his path, an elderly couple turned their faces from his sight, and merchants would quiver in their boots as he sought to bargain for groceries he needed for that weekend spent in his Rukongai apartment—a residential choice he preferred on the weekends when there were not as much workload that he had to sleep in the Sixth Division's barracks.

Granted his friends didn't think much of his tattoos, seeing that they each also have their own quirks, they didn't really have any right to say what he should do to his appearance and behaviour. Matsumoto Rangiku has her alcoholic, and sometimes near-nymphomaniac tendencies, Madarame Ikkaku with his proudly bald head and the predatory glint in his eyes with his overall craziness and knack for chaos (not forgetting his lucky dance, which was in a league of its own), Hisagi with his sentimental yet borderline inappropriate '69' tattoo smacked right on his face, and of course, Rukia with her crazy Chappy obsession. Not forgetting the 'colourful' personalities of all his friends in general, he knew that he fit right in.

But he still didn't look 'nice'.

The overall image that he wanted to strive for was simply 'bad-ass'. He wanted the tattoo, he wanted the body, and he already got the hair. Once he got the tattoo for the first time, he knew, he had to work on his body too.

Most people would see that Abarai Renji was a very muscular man. His friends would sometimes comment on how well-developed his muscles were. Ikkaku would obviously be antagonistic about it, mostly out of playfulness and his tendency to pick fights. Renji would, sometimes, comply. And he was happy with the fact that his hard work paid off.

However unnecessary it was.

In truth, Renji was not a big-boned person. Due to the fact that a regular-muscled body would make him look more like Kira Izuru—no offense to that ever gloomy guy, _again_, no offense—than Captain Kyoraku—bless him for his naturally large body—he trained and worked his muscles out every single day for hours on end. It wasn't really to gain 'strength' though, since even Captain Hitsugaya could lift boulders over his head with little effort due to his tremendous _reiryoku_. So the fact that a strong _reiryoku_ was more efficient than packing on muscles was not lost on most shinigami, making them train more in a sense of developing their spiritual prowess instead of physical strength.

The muscles were simply for 'aesthetic' purposes. Something that the Eleventh Division squad were crazy about, which made sense for Renji to also be swept on that line of thought, considering his past affiliation to that particular division. The division that prioritized brute strength and a sense of machismo more than refined control of their spiritual prowess, as demonstrated by the captain of said division, Zaraki Kenpachi, the biggest brute of all.

Renji wanted to be strong, and the big musculature would make him look the part, as he was taught on his days in the Eleventh. He still couldn't understand how his current captain would still be one step ahead in the 'bad-ass' department though, no matter how hard he trained to gain those muscles. That man exuded aura that just screams 'power' that rivaled Captain Zaraki himself. Must be part of the reason why Renji respected him so much, if not sometimes fearful.

And there came his hair. His bloody, crimson red hair. The hair he had since he was a baby, the hair he hated as a child but came to love as he grew. The hair that, really, was always the center of attention above all the things that made him 'not nice'.

As a Rukon dog with his scrappy group of friends decades ago, he would often ask Rukia to cut his hair short. He didn't want his hair, they attracted too much attention, and he always thought about dying it black, or even go bald. He actually _did_ go bald for a while as a child, but as an adult, he realised the only one who could pull that look was Ikkaku, and he did tremendously regret the decision that made his late Rukon friends laughed and point at the hairless top of his head for days on end, until he whacked them up the top of their heads, of course.

He only came to learn to appreciate his hair as a teen, growing up with Rukia and eventually entering Shino Academy. Which was around the same time he came to discover his 'aesthetic' choices of attracting attention while giving off 'bad-ass' aura, which he pulled off excellently, for a while, until his 'aesthetic' choice went crazy on him.

He grew his hair long and tied them up in a high ponytail. However, because of his past of coming from Inuzuri, the more… 'poor' area of Rukongai, he never really learned to take care of his hair, even though he grew fond of it. He used to never really washed his hair with products due to unavailable budget at the time, and once he did have some money in his time as a shinigami, he used them on styling products that may or may not have the desired effect on his high ponytail—that signature spiky ponytail resembling a pineapple head was definitely NOT what he expected his hair to be, but what it eventually became due to improper care.

All things considered, the combination of his tattoos, his unnecessarily developed muscles, and his red hair, made him look, 'not nice', compared to the generally accepted aesthetic standards.

He didn't know where all these thoughts came from, but he definitely was considering another 'aesthetic' change, he actually was getting sick of himself, at that point.

Not drastic, but at least something that wasn't so… unsubtle.

* * *

"So… what? You want to dye your hair?" Matsumoto Rangiku lifted a skeptical eyebrow. Her right hand was loosely holding a bottle of sake as the other rested on her lap in her seated position by an open door leading to a dark and empty training ground.

In the background, Hisagi Shuuhei, Madarame Ikkaku, and Kira Izuru were seen wrestling for the last bottle of sake which was sitting precariously close to the edge of the low table. They were obviously and pathetically drunk beyond salvation, and the sun just _barely _set.

The five of them were lounging in the Tenth Division barracks. They invited the rest of their friends, but the ones who really had nothing to do that evening were just the five—and Matsumoto obviously always made time for drinking with her friends. Excluding Hinamori Momo who never joined in her self-deprecating state ever since Aizen's betrayal, and Rukia who didn't really join their drinking sessions anymore since Kuchiki Byakuya took it upon himself to actually care for his sister in his own _overtly_ protective way. He deemed drinking the night away to utter intoxication an un-'noble'-like behaviour. In his exact words, "a disgraceful state for the most ignominious beings."

Renji shifted in his seat, leaning back against the sliding door frame he was also sitting by, across from the blonde lieutenant, his eyes drooped and his cheeks were slightly flushed from the chilly air and the alcohol he consumed. He scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

"Not that major," he said, his lower lip jutted out in contemplation, "I was thinking of… maybe my tattoo?"

"You realise your tattoo is all over your body? That's NOT major?" the Tenth Division lieutenant snorted incredulously. She was not as drunk as anybody else in the room, except for maybe Renji who was still holding his third cup of sake, but she was drunk enough—or maybe it was just her personality—to reach for the opening of Renji's white yukata and yanked it open to reveal the rest of his tattoos.

Renji glared and pushed her grubby hand away, pushing her back to her place across the open door as she giggled in a drunken haze, slurring "don't be shy Ren-chan~" as she did whenever she got tipsy enough. Renji hated that nickname.

"Obviously I didn't mean those, Rangiku-san," he snapped, shrugging his yukata back in place and tightening the sash. He then untied the white headband covering his forehead and pointed at the intricate tribal tattoo on his forehead.

"I meant these. I thought maybe having these things right on my face is a bit too much for some people, so I was thinking of removing it."

Matsumoto blinked lazily and brought her fingers to her chin, stroking it in a caricature of an old man deep in thought.

"Why do you even care, anyway? You never thought about those things before," she finally said, waving the half-empty bottle of sake to Renji's direction.

"Of course not," the redhead huffed, "'s just tha' 'm gettin' bored with this 'scary image' I made fo' myself, ya know, I wan' try somethin' new but I wan' do it lil' bit at a time ta see if it's good or nah," Renji explained, his slurred voice courtesy of chugging the entire cup of sake he was holding, making his sloppy Rukongai accent showed through the years of perfecting his pronunciation.

"Yer not 'scary, Renji, yer cuddly~" the busty lieutenant drawled as she tried once again to huggle her fellow lieutenant. Renji pushed her head back with his hand as he drew his body as far away from the dangerous woman as possible.

"Stop it, Rangiku-san! And you _know_ what I meant, don't you dare lie," the redhead managed to force the words out as he was pushed to the floor by the _strong_ and drunken lieutenant. Matsumoto sobered a bit and pulled away to look at her colleague in the eye. Renji eyed her suspiciously as he inconspicuously tried to pull away from the drunken blonde's reach.

Matsumoto hummed at that and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well It's yer decision, Ren-chan, I mean—"

"What wha-at, whatcha mumblin' an' bumblin' 'bout o'er 'ere huh?"

Suddenly Renji was glomped by a very intoxicated Hisagi Shuuhei, his face was so close that Renji had to wrinkle his nose in disgust when the man breathed his stinking, alcohol-ridden breath on Renji.

"Get **off**, Hisagi-san!" Renji groaned, pushing the heavily intoxicated lieutenant's face away from him, squishing it to the floor. After a while, a loud snore could be heard.

Matsumoto was guffawing at Hisagi Shuuhei's embarrassing state; his head was to the floor with his lips squished by the side of his face, making him look like a fish, his entire body was still in a kneeling position from his previous attempt at glomping Renji, his arms sprawled in front of his head while his butt was high in the air. All in all, a good blackmail moment.

Unfortunately for Hisagi, Matsumoto always carries a spare camera, courtesy of Shinigami Women's Association. A drunk but still semi-alert Kira Izuru added to that by pulling out a permanent black marker from his sleeve.

* * *

The morning after, Abarai Renji was spotted fumbling over his uniform as he jumped and skipped across the roofs of Seireitei. Fellow shinigami who were doing their own business, running errands for their supervising officers and whatnots, stopped to look at what was causing the commotion on the rooftops.

_Captain Kuchiki is going to kill me, worse yet, he's gonna give me half of his paperwork on top of mine! _the redhead thought as he clumsily tied his hair on top of his head in its signature ponytail, albeit slightly skewed to the left side of his head. He didn't notice the looks he was receiving for the noises he was causing early in the morning.

"Morning, Captain!" Renji almost shouted as he skidded in front of the door to his and his captain's joint office, very _nearly_ slamming the door open.

_Safe!_ he thought, looking at the clock hanged on the wall beside his captain's desk.

Kuchiki Byakuya remained silent as he signed a piece of paper containing a maternity leave permission for one of his unseated subordinate. Apparently, her partner in field missions was also her partner in bed. It was the third time he signed a maternity leave just that morning. Had he been a lesser man, he would roll his eyes and snort in annoyance. As the nobility he was, the raven-haired captain simply furrowed his brows. He had to establish some rules on office affairs, it would seem.

The captain noticed that his loud-mouthed lieutenant was still standing in front of the door by the lack of clumsy footsteps to the lieutenant's designated work station.

"Would you rather stand there all day looking like an idiot, or come and actually do your share of the work, lieutenant?" he deadpanned while picking up another piece of paperwork. The Captain-Commander was entrusting a joint-training between his unseated officers and the Sixth's to Byakuya's capable hands, it would seem.

"Oh! Yes, sorry Captain," the redhead said sheepishly and stepped into the office. He sighed and grabbed a piece of paper from the already towering paperwork to be done that day. He just barely made it in time, but he could see that his captain was already working on his paperwork for a while, judging from the number of papers on the 'signed' tray.

_Ever the workaholic, _Renji thought, almost grumbling under his breath at the lack of care his captain gave on his own personal life to constantly work all the damn time. Renji bet on his homemade lunchbox that the Head of the Kuchiki household hadn't even had a proper breakfast, and Renji _loved_ his lunchbox.

Around an hour passed by as both the officers worked through their paperwork in silence, until a particularly _familiar_ sound could be heard.

_Groo—wwl!_

The red-headed lieutenant turned his head so swiftly that he thought he heard his neck cracked.

Silence.

On his desk, Kuchiki Byakuya's cheeks reddened, before he coughed into his fist and composed himself.

"You didn't eat breakfast, did you captain?" Renji asked, exasperated but amusement could be detected from the twinkle in his eyes and the smirk almost breaking through his facade. He looked at the clock, still a few hours before lunchtime.

Kuchiki Byakuya almost blushed again, which he turned into a sharp glare instead, but paused seeing his lieutenant ruffling through his cluttered desk.

"A-ha," the redhead muttered as he found a pink cloth wrapped box underneath the messy papers and brushes on his desk.

The captain narrowed his eyes as his lieutenant got up and walked to his workspace.

"What are—"

"Here ya go, captain,"

Renji put down the wrapped box on a clean surface of his captain's desk. The Kuchiki looked at the redhead with one of his sharp eyebrows lifted delicately.

"It's my lunchbox, you can have it," Renji looked pointedly at the box sitting innocently on his captain's desk, the white flower pattern on the pink wrapping cloth daring the raven to _not_ open it.

Seeing that his captain still looked skeptical, if not jarred in surprise at his lieutenant's offering, Renji sighed and untied the cloth, revealing a lacquered cherrywood box, stacked in two separate layers. The lacquered lid decorated intricately with a flowering cherry blossom trunk, its mother of pearl petals twinkling in the sunlight that shone into the office.

"_Food_, captain," the redhead said simply, opening the lid.

The Sixth Division captain looked at the food revealed within the box and almost gasped. His stomach rumbled in protest looking at the glistening and beautifully arranged lunchbox. The top layer consisted of _umeboshi _rice, a quarter of the space on the left reserved for golden, sweet omelette rolls and steamed broccoli. He watched in silent anticipation as his lieutenant lifted the top layer to reveal the second box underneath. His mouth watered at the sight, bite-sized pieces of _cutely_ decorated sausage octopi (octopuses? Byakuya couldn't be bothered to remember the proper term), glazed chicken fillet bites wrapped in perilla leaves and skewered one by one into perfection, and a side of root vegetable salad. It was enough for his stomach to rumble once again, demanding him to put those delicious morsels into his mouth and down his gut.

"There, no suspicious stuff going on, as you can see. Just a normal lunchbox," Renji huffed. His captain was still looking silently at the boxes laid out on his desk, his right hand was still clutching on the brush he was using to sign his paperwork with, albeit the ink was steadily dripping on the paper. The raven-haired captain was still as a statue, as if contemplating whether he should use his ink-laden brush or the food-filled containers to throw on his lieutenant's head.

"Did you make it yourself, Lieutenant Abarai?" the Kuchiki finally inquired, eyeing the food spread out on his desk idly.

"Well yeah, I figured since yesterday was the weekend I got some time to prepare for today's lunch…"

The red hair watched as his captain went silent once more. Unbeknownst to him, his captain was silently at war with himself. On one hand, he was pleasantly surprised that his lieutenant can cook, a skill that slipped past Byakuya's noble fingers time and time again on his quest to surprise his late wife and Rukia's older sister, Hisana—rest in peace sweet love, not to mention he _was _rather hungry and felt like he could eat a whole boar—not that he would do such a crass thing. On the other hand, his noble upbringing—which made him more prissy and arrogant than most people would deem normal at times—told him to refuse such… 'commoner' offering the lunchbox was.

But he was _so_ very _famished, _and the food within the lunchbox was extremely invigorating to his saliva and teased his nostrils with its sweet perfume that likened the lunchbox to a well laid out feast on a holiday dinner. It looked exquisite enough, and it was homemade, rather than one of those 'convenience' lunch boxes bought from common shops in Rukongai, something he'd rather die than being caught buying.

During his silent contemplation, unfortunately, his lieutenant was rather short on him, and the fact that his expression looked like he just saw someone harassing his beloved little sister in front of him didn't help the matter.

"If you don't want it then I'll take it out of your hands," the redhead moved to retrieve his lunchbox, annoyance clear in his voice at his jerk of a captain. It was a simple lunchbox, okay, but his captain didn't have to be so condescending about it that he kept staring at the food in disdain!

A hand shot up to still his wrist.

Renji blinked and looked at his captain, who was looking particularly concentrated at an area somewhere above the redhead's eyes.

"Did you do something to your tattoos, Abarai?"

Renji's eyes grew at the random topic change and snatched his wrist from his captain's cold hand, fingering his _red_ eyebrow.

"Uh… yeah, I did," Renji mumbled sheepishly. His captain was bound to notice, but he didn't expect to feel so _naked_ when someone looked. And he opted out of his usual headband too, so he _was_ kind of hoping for people to notice.

...

_After going home from the Tenth Division barracks the night before, he stood in front of the small mirror in his bathroom, contemplating his option on what he confessed to Matsumoto Rangiku earlier that night. Hie tried to picture having a different coloured hair, as the strawberry blonde lieutenant suggested in passing, but couldn't imagine getting rid of the colour he had grown to love over the years. He considered cutting his hair, but as he twisted a lock of hair in front of his face and running his fingers through them, he decided he couldn't let go of his hair. Maybe a more proper hair care was due, but he definitely wouldn't change his hair. _

_He pursed his lips and untied his white headband from his forehead. _

Yeah this is definitely over the top_, Renji thought, grimacing. He didn't even remember what he was thinking when he went and got that first tattoo on his brows. Didn't imagine he would actually tattoo across his whole _forehead_. Rukia even made fun of it once. After several decades of having those tattoos on his forehead, Renji had taken into wearing headgears or headbands as his latest fashion preference. So having those tattoos there was rather redundant now that the redhead thought it over. __Not to mention the exaggerated widow's peak that was once a tight hairline. He decided to get to work if he wanted to have at least a few hours of sleep, rather than tossing in his bed feeling anxious about it all night._

_..._

"Go back to your station, lieutenant, your work awaits," with that Renji snapped out of his musing, he fumbled over his words before nodding and scrambled back to his desk, vaguely disappointed that his captain didn't even comment on his new look other than the initial inquiry.

As he was getting ready to work on the next document, his head almost shot up indignantly as he remembered that his under-appreciated lunchbox was still left on his captain's desk. The redhead bowed over the paper he was working on and peeked under his lashes to his captain's station. His eyes widen at the sight.

Kuchiki Byakuya, his cold-hearted and holier-than-thou captain was plopping (plopping!) a piece of sausage octopus to his mouth as he was reading a document, and then signing it with a brush on his left hand (that multi-talented captain of his was _ambidextrous, _for Soul King's sake!), while his right hand, which was holding the chopsticks, was reaching for a piece of sweet omelette roll. Renji felt his stomach did the happy dance when he saw his captain closed his eyes in bliss as he chewed on the morsels of food.

He smiled and puffed out a quiet laugh under his breath and went back to finish his papers.

_Definitely need to have him bring food to the office more often, _the 28th Head of the esteemed Kuchiki Family, one of the Four Pillars of Soul Society, Captain of the Sixth Division Squad mused as he devoured his red-headed lieutenant's homemade lunchbox in barely contained _delight._

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

**Additional notes: **

**_Reiatsu_-imbued tattoo: **A popular way for shinigami to get an essentially permanent ink work. Conventional tattooing method works well, but may fade over time or get removed when the skin is sustaining damage or injuries, which happens a lot when you're working in a military organization that is extremely active in terms of fights and battles like the Gotei 13. With this new method, the ink is embedded _in _to the shinigami's _reiryoku_ layer on their skin using a special inking needle that releases small pulses of _reiatsu_. This makes it possible for the tattoo to remain when the skin sustains and heals from injuries, since the tattoo is 'needled' into the shinigami's _reiryoku_ layer and not the skin itself. It can only be removed when the bearer or the tattoo artist specifically releases their _reiatsu_ to 'attack' the foreign _reiatsu_ embedded in the bearer's _reiryoku_, or when the whole _reiryoku_ layer on the shinigami's skin is completely gone, which can only mean the shinigami's death.

_ Removal_:  
Removing ink work created using this method requires a significantly large amount of patience and precision in one's control of his/her _reiatsu, _due to the fact that the removal process involves 'needling' _out _the foreign _reiatsu_ out of their _reiryoku _layer in a similar way that they were needled in by the tattoo artist, only this time without the use of the special _reiatsu _needle. it is done by carving one's _reiatsu_ needle-thin within the perimeter of their _reiryoku _layer and _pushing _it out in accordance with the location of the tattoo, doing this multiple times until all the foreign _reiatsu _has been removed completely, or as desired. This process may take several hours to weeks depending on the amount of inkwork needed to be removed. Due to the complicated process, only those with refined control of their _reiatsu _can comfortably do this process on their own. At a small fortune, a shinigami could also hire the tattoo artist's expertise to remove the ink work for them. Some shinigami claimed that the process is like pricking the skin with thorns or plucking facial hair near the brows area. The skin may be reddened for several hours after removal.

_ Special property(s):  
_Using this tattooing method on an area of the skin that is not bare, such as the hairline area or an old rough scar, would diminish the 'obstructing' object wherever the tattoo is needled in, also one of the reasons why this method was popular among scar riddled war veterans of the Gotei 13. Lieutenant Abarai Renji, for example, requested his forehead tattoo to go high up and tapered into a sharp point on both sides of his hairline, removing the hair obstructing the _reiryoku_ needle for as long as the tattoo was not removed, creating his signature widow's peak. Upon removal of the tattoo, the 'object' would gradually go back to its original appearance before the tattoo was present, over the course of a few hours up to several days, depending on the size.

_ Cost:  
_Since this method requires the use of _reiryoku_, and it comes with some more appealing properties than a conventional tattoo, the charging fee of getting a tattoo using this method is very high compared to the conventional method. Someone in the position of an unseated officer may get an entire arm tattoo at the cost of a year of salary, while lieutenants such as Abarai Renji confessed that it took him three decades to complete his whole body tattoo, considering the design and work area were particularly unique. Over time, the cost may lower as better procedures are developed to reduce errors and increase efficiency, or new tattooing methods are discovered.

**_Reiryoku_**: spiritual energy within an individual, human or spirit. A human with higher than average _reiryoku_ can sense or even see spirits, and may develop spiritual powers and abilities. A spirit that has higher than average _reiryoku_ may apply to Shino Academy to become a shinigami/soul reaper to further refine and develop their spiritual prowess. Reiryoku acts like a spiritual immune system, existing within one's core and as a layer on top of their skin; the stronger _reiryoku _someone possesses, the more strength and stamina they possess, and the more durable they become to both internal (i.e. less susceptible to illness and toxins) and external damage (i.e. blunt and sharp force trauma).

**_Reiatsu_**: the physical manifestation of an individual's _reiryoku_. It can appear in different forms, such as simple auras emitted by an individual, and can be manipulated into deadly battle moves or even wound-healing, life-saving energy.

**_Umeboshi_**: Japanese pickled plum, usually paired with rice in a lunch box (_bento)_ or rice balls (_onigiri_). Has a distinct, extremely sour and salty flavor. It is an acquired taste for foreigners.

**_Weekends in Gotei 13_**: shinigami still attend to their duties on weekends, as they are a combat-ready military organisation. However, since day-to-day and administrative workflow are usually fewer and less intense on the weekends than any other days, some shinigami—of particularly higher ranks—may be excused off their work if they are deemed completed for the day. However, infantry personnel is readily on standby 24/7, and ranked officers are constantly connected by hell butterflies or soul pagers.

_ *note: Shinigami on missions are not permitted off duty until their missions are completed and reports are submitted._


	2. Chapter 2 - The Sleepwalker

Chapter 2: The Sleepwalker

* * *

"You're telling me, that you walked _all _the way from your barracks—which is, by the way, located right smack in the middle of _Seireitei_—straight to the Southern gate, all while you're _asleep_?"

"Well if you say it like that it sounds super freaky, Hisagi-san," a certain Abarai Renji grumbled, sipping his tea.

"I'm just paraphrasing what you said, Abarai," Hisagi Shuuhei shrugged while still chewing on his spicy ramen noodle.

The both of them were having lunch in a small ramen shop near the Sixth Division because Renji had to get back to his office quickly to finish his growing pile of paperwork—due to some of the seated officers having to go on _maternity leave and leave their work in his hands, damn them_. To be fair his captain took the bigger share of the paperwork, mercifully noting that his lieutenant had enough things to do with managing the recruits on top of the paperwork.

"So?"

"So, what?"

"Well, what do you take of that incident? That must not be some usual thing for you," the Ninth lieutenant elaborated, slurping his noodles noisily.

"Yeah, not really," Renji mumbled, wrinkling his nose at the splattering of ramen broths all over the booth they were sitting at—Hisagi was _not_ a clean eater despite his overall 'calm' demeanor.

"I don't know, maybe it's just a really heavy case of sleepwalking, you know, with all the work piling on and such," the redhead offered, taking a bite of his pork _chashu_.

Hisagi hummed, recalling his _kouhai _saying some of the female officers in his division were taking maternity leave in droves. Most of the female shinigami in his division chose to work on the _Seireitei Communication department_**—hoping to get the latest scoop first hand, well, maybe second only to Lieutenant Matsumoto, the gossip hound that she was—so there were fewer numbers of office affairs between them and the men. Maternity leaves in the Ninth Division could be counted in one hand, _annually_.

"But it's quite peculiar," Hisagi mulled, getting the redheaded lieutenant's attention, who was in the middle of sipping his ramen broth, back to him.

"What is?"

"The location of your sleepwalking is way too far, and too specific for it to be just a 'heavy case of sleepwalking', right? No one 'sleepwalks' for miles, managing to not bump into anything, and somehow ends up in a very specific location like _the Southern Gate of Seireitei itself_," Hisagi explained, throwing a pointed look at Renji, "and most shinigami who sleepwalk would end up sprawled on the ground from bumping into their barrack's entrance gate."

Renji tilted his head and raised one eyebrow, "What are you suggesting, Hisagi-san? That 'someone or something was calling for me'?" he asked while making air quotations, his tone incredulous, "people can still have some subconscious control over their body even while sleepwalking, you know. One time I saw Rikichi going to the kitchen, took a helping of _nikujaga_ and ate the entire bowl clean, _sleeping._ Simply opening or jumping over the barracks' gate or is not far-fetched," he added.

"Who knows?" the Ninth division lieutenant's tone made Renji's brow twitch, it was as if his _senpai_ was actually considering that possibility.

"That's just too cliché," the redhead scrunched his nose.

"Maybe, but crazy stuff happens around here, I wouldn't be surprised," the scarred face lieutenant shrugged and gulped down his cooling tea.

Renji frowned, couldn't exactly refute his _senpai_ there; with Aizen's plot, the increasing number of hollow activities, the appearance of Arrancar and a ton of new adversaries and weird characters popping up—the _bounts_, _visored_, _zanpakuto _manifestations_*_—crazy stuff _did_ happen a lot. But sleepwalking _definitely_ couldn't compare to any of those.

"I was just _extremely_ exhausted," Renji decided with finality in his tone. Hisagi watched the redhead's expression for any lingering doubts and shrugged again, conceding to the redhead's insistence. Hey, he was a bit of a conspiracy theorist and all, but he wasn't about to do that to his _kouhai_'s personal life.

* * *

After they finished their lunch, on the way back to the Sixth to drop Renji off, the pair spotted a shinigami officer listening in rapt attention to the prattling of a certain strawberry blonde lieutenant.

"—better head off now, don't want Captain Hitsugaya hounding down your back for those signatures." they heard the blonde waved off the meek young man, who shouted a "Yes, Lieutenant!" and flash-stepped out of the area. With a decidedly mischievous satisfaction on her face, the blonde lieutenant turned to leave before noticing the pair heading her way.

"Shuuhei, Renji!" Matsumoto cheerfully greeted the two lieutenants who were walking towards her direction.

"Rangiku-san," Renji nodded.

"I see you've been _working _hard, Matsumoto," Hisagi smirked.

"Oh, yeah. Delegating is a lieutenant's job, after all," she laughed nervously, mumbling an excuse and quickly shifting her attention to the redheaded lieutenant, "Anyway, Renji! I haven't seen you the last few days—wait," she paused and squinted, narrowing her eyes into Renji's direction, particularly his _bare_ forehead.

And then her eyes widened in realization, "You really _did_ it!" Matsumoto squealed, almost bouncing to inspect the redhead's tattoo-less forehead closer, intruding _deep_ into Renji's personal space.

"It opens up _this_ area more now," Matsumoto said, zooming in and pointedly looking at Renji's forehead, "looks more youthful," she decided, panning out to inspect the overall appearance of the redhead's face and nodding in approval. Renji had to push her back to a decently appropriate distance lest she tried to smother him, as was the typical thing to do when the blonde fiend was around.

"It looks good," Hisagi agreed.

He already saw it a couple of days ago, and to say he was—pleasantly—surprised was an understatement. The redhead not only looked more 'youthful', he now looked more fitting to his fun and friendly personality. Hisagi noticed more people were talking to the redhead out of _want_ instead of just respect for his rank—not counting the Sixth Division shinigami, of course, who apparently have this borderline unhealthy sense of admiration for their lieutenant.

"Yep, went to get it done after I went home that night, you know how I wouldn't be able to sleep thinking about it. Good thing I wasn't completely drunk, don't want to scar myself with my own _reiatsu_," Renji grinned, rubbing his neck.

"Right, don't want to repeat _that_ again," Matsumoto quipped, she wiggled her brows suggestively. It took Renji a moment to process what she said before he was flushing in indignation, embarrassing and self-deprecating memories resurfaced on his mind.

"R-Rangiku-san, we agreed to never bring it up again!" the redhead stuttered, his cheeks turned into the color of his hair, out of embarrassment or anger, he didn't know. Beside the redhead, Hisagi Shuuhei groaned and covered his eyes in exasperation, things were going to get awkward again between him and his _kouhai_.

Matsumoto only giggled even more, smirking coyly, "But it looks like a mark of possession! Don't you agree, _Shuu-hei-kyu-n_?" she drawled in a sickly sweet voice, leering at Hisagi's direction making him groaned louder.

"Stop it, Matsumoto," Hisagi massaged his brows in disdain, a headache forming rapidly. As if remembering _certain aspects _of a _particular memory_, the redheaded lieutenant shifted further from his side.

Taking stock at her friends' state, Matsumoto decided to be merciful and changed the topic.

"So, what are you both doing out here?" she inquired, noting that the direction they were coming from was that of the ramen shop she occasionally frequent when she was visiting the Sixth for '_errands'; _usually trying to persuade Renji to skip work.

"Lunch," Hisagi answered, sighing in relief. He was glad that Matsumoto decided to not pursue the topic further, he was definitely not prepared to take her on like he usually did with his quick wit and smart quips.

The blonde's eyebrows shot up, "Really? Renji, I thought you always bring your _wifey_ lunchbox with you," she said in a friendly tease, with a hint of genuine surprise.

Ever since discovering that his fashion accessories were costing him a fortune—with most of his savings put to purchase his expensive headgears _and _eating out, the redhead took it upon himself to learn to cook his own food, at the very least. He didn't really want to give up his love for expensive headgears anytime soon though, but he also tried limiting his purchase to no more than twice a year, given they don't break before then.

Turned out he was quite good at cooking, considering he would also never eat at the barracks' free canteen given the choice—the food there was honestly bland and did nothing to rouse his appetite. He was fortunate enough that the cooks let him use the kitchen so he could make his own lunch all week instead of once every weekend—when he went back to his apartment—they even let him store his ingredients _and _gave him his own cooking space in the barracks' kitchen. He didn't notice those privileges were due to the _borderline_ _unhealthy_ sense of admiration the Sixth Division staff had for him, though.

Renji didn't realize how much money he saved by cooking his own food until his captain decided to eat _three of his lunchboxes for the last three days_.

"Yeah, about that..." he trailed off, not knowing how to explain without making his captain look bad in front of the other lieutenant.

Taking pity on Renji, Hisagi took to explain in his stead, "well apparently, his captain really sucks at taking care of himself and frequently skipped his breakfast, so he gets hungry before lunchtime."

The redhead did tell his _senpai_ about his predicament earlier at lunch, but hearing the blunt explanation made him wince and feel somewhat guilty of badmouthing his captain. It _was_ technically _true_...

"What, so you give your lunchbox to _the _Captain Stone-Cold-Hottie?" Matsumoto asked, disbelief evident in her voice. _That_ Captain Kuchiki? Eating _commoners' food_?

"Well, he's not really the type to go and eat out like us, is he now?" _considering he's a noble and all that fancy-schmansy stuff, _Renji thought.

"But, he's_ Kuchiki Byakuya_! He's not the type to eat from a _lunchbox_ too, I'm sure," the blonde insisted.

"He ate _mine_ just fine for the last few days," he ate Renji's lunchbox quite _enthusiastically, _actually, now that the redhead thought about it. His captain always looked 'almost delighted' whenever he presented his lunchbox, with that glimmer in his eyes.

"He ate your lunchbox for _more_ than once? _Voluntarily_?"

"No, I gave _him_ my lunchboxes _voluntarily,_" Renji huffed indignantly and rolling his eyes at Matsumoto's exaggeration. Was it really that big of a deal that his captain ate his lunchboxes? Sure, he was also surprised at first, but since he was the one who offered, he didn't really think much of it afterward. Actually, he was quite happy that his captain appreciated his food, _even though he never said a word of thank you_, _the arrogant nobility that he was. _

"I just forgot to make two of them so I've been eating out. Honestly, I don't mind it, it's been a while since I eat out too," Renji explained, shrugging. More exactly, He didn't mind for the first few times, but if this kept going he felt like his captain have to at _least _give Renji the money for buying groceries.

Almost as if he knew what the redhead was mulling over, Hisagi smirked, "You're like his wife or something."

"Shut up, Hisagi-san." Renji deadpanned.

* * *

"Nii-sama, are you sure you are going to be all right?" Kuchiki Rukia asked for the third time that late noon. The sun was only beginning to set as she followed behind her brother. She just got back from her barracks only to see her older brother leaving to his, _again. _

"It's just four nights, Rukia," Kuchiki Byakuya reminded her for the third time, walking through the corridors of the Kuchiki Manor towards the front gate of the estate leisurely.

The Captain of the Sixth Division needed to take residence in his office to catch up to the overwhelming amount of paperwork left by the officers who went on maternity leave. Yes, the maternity leave problem was getting out of hand. While he couldn't blame the women for wanting to take care of their pregnancy, he wished his proposal for updating the Sixth Division's policies regarding affairs between officers was approved sooner by the Captain-Commander.

It would not be a big problem if it was not his _seated officers_ who took those leaves, because then the mundane work could be delegated to other shinigami. As it was, with almost half of his higher-ranked officers off duty, it only left him, his lieutenant, and the twelfth seat qualified to share the work with, and most of the work was only qualified for him and his second-in-command with the absence of the rest of the seated officers from third to eleventh.

On top of that, the next few days after that would be filled with training the new recruits of the Sixth and the First Division, deeming him to take prolonged residence in the barracks, though only by three nights. While he appreciated the trust that the Captain-Commander had given to his division, the timing could not be worse.

A few moments of being lost in thought, he noticed his sister had stopped in her tracks, a look of doubt and concern blaring on her face.

"But you never stayed in the barracks before..." Rukia trailed off hesitantly. She didn't want to be disrespectful and outright saying her older brother couldn't exactly do the basic necessities of living by himself—things like cooking, which he really _couldn't_. He had attempted to 'cook' for his late wife—Rukia's sister—Hisana, once. After he set a small fire trying to _boil water_, he never stepped into the kitchens again. At least that was what the head cook told her.

Rukia's captain, Ukitake Juushiro, who was a close friend to the Kuchiki when Byakuya was growing up, once told her something that she thought was a fitting description of her brother; _"Kuchiki Byakuya is certainly not in any way a 'spoiled prince', but that doesn't make him any less of a prince, don't you think?"_

Indeed, as the Head of the Kuchiki Family and Captain of the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Byakuya had enough things on his plate to last any normal person two lifetimes. With all his duties taking too much space of his personal life, the servants were left to do the mundane things for him—necessary, such as laundries and food, but 'mundane' in comparison to his duties as a captain and head nobility, which rendered him essentially crippled in common everyday functions compared to most people.

"I am well aware of that. And I am a grown adult, I can take care of myself," Byakuya said, his tone slightly admonishing his little sister for not having faith in him to take care of his well-being, even for several days.

He was sure that a few nights at the barracks would not be a problem for him. He would have food from the barracks' kitchen—not that he ever tried them—and he already had servants bringing his necessities to his captain's quarters, enough for his stay there. He never slept in his quarters in the barracks, but he had inspected them once before and they would... suffice, at the very least. He survived the wilderness when he trained as a young man, and again as a student in Shino Academy. How hard could a sheltered military barracks be compared to that?

Sensing her brother's persistence, she sighed, "Try not to overwork yourself, nii-sama," she reminded him instead.

"I will not," the raven-haired captain nodded in assurance, his mien almost softened as he looked at his adoptive sister. She was always so worried for everyone other than her own self, which was why she always gets into so much trouble in the first place—especially when it concerned a certain substitute shinigami who never failed to irk him.

"You always say that, but I know how you focus on your work so much that you forget everything else," she muttered under her breath, knowing how many times her adoptive brother was often up late at night to work on the clan's matters that he had to set aside after work in his Division was completed, only to skip his breakfast the next morning to rush into his office and try to get an early start on his paperwork. While he didn't do it that often, she noticed that he had been doing it for the last several days, and it worried her that he might fall ill from spreading himself too thin.

Renji assured her that Byakuya had at least been eating a late breakfast in the office, though. She was surprised that her brother, who never so much as glance at commoners' food while venturing on the streets in Rukongai with her, would eat something that Renji made, granted his cooking skill _was _rather legendary amongst their group of friends. She was just glad that she had someone in the Sixth that she can count on to look after her brother when she wasn't around.

"I will have Lieutenant Abarai to assist me," Byakuya finally said. The younger Kuchiki sagged, reminding herself that, yes, at least Renji was around to straighten up her brother's inexperience of living without servants tending to his needs.

* * *

"You are allowed to go now, Lieutenant Abarai."

Renji looked up from his desk. He was sitting idly, arranging and rearranging his office supplies, waiting for an officer to deliver another batch of paperwork when he heard his captain mentioned his name.

"Are you sure, Captain?" he asked. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but he was ready to get some 'Zzz' action since three hours ago, his eyes were already twitching from reading fine prints for hours and his eyelids had gotten so heavy he had to pinch himself multiple times to remain awake.

"Yes, there are merely several documents left to be signed," Byakuya gestured to the papers scattered on his desk—a first, for his captain to be not entirely organized, maybe the fatigue was also starting to get to him.

Seeing that there would be no more paperwork for that night, Renji stood to leave—a little bit too fast, bowing at his captain and turned to go out of the office.

"And Abarai?" the Kuchiki called, his deep voice cutting through Renji's musing of sleep and bed and just _rest. _

Renji turned to look at his captain, expecting him to say that "_actually no, there will be another batch of paperwork, I was just messing with you, now sit down, you're going to suffer with me_," he internally grimaced at that.

"Yes, Captain?" Renji queried meekly, his voice small, hoping that his over-active imagination—which turns up whenever he was up late _working until_ _1 in the morning_—was not true.

Kuchiki Byakuya observed his lieutenant. From his sagged shoulders, hunched back, sallow complexion, and heavy eyes, he knew that his second-in-command was not going to tolerate a moment longer of lounging around in the office, waiting for Byakuya to say something already.

Byakuya was grateful that his redheaded lieutenant was there to help him with the mounting amount of paperwork they received that evening—a total of four batches of thick documents were delivered in the past six hours since his arrival from the Kuchiki Manor. Not only that, but the redhead had also taken it to himself to serve Byakuya his supper—_homemade _supper by his lieutenant who seems to possess golden hands for cooking—and filling his teacup every time he ran empty.

He didn't want to admit his upbringing made him unfamiliar with the act of showing gratitude towards others, as he thought he went pass that the first time his lieutenant and the rogue substitute shinigami had to even_ fight him _when they were rescuing his beloved sister, Rukia. Clearly, he was wrong, and it was already internalized through centuries of his life as a noble to be 'subtle to the point of nothingness' in regards to showing his appreciation towards others, especially those with lower status.

"Th—" as much as he wanted to express his gratitude towards the redhead, he found himself unable to verbally communicate the thought.

"Don't sleep in, joint training starts tomorrow," Byakuya opted instead, knowing it was within his perceived character to haughtily remind his subordinates of their duties. He had already accepted that his subordinates—as well as other acquaintances—would expect him to be notoriously cold and frank, it was built into his character, after all.

Unbeknownst to him, Renji had actually noticed his captain's little slip-up and internal struggle—it was well written in the noble's unusually expressive features, another evidence that the noble was as exhausted as Renji was.

"...yes, Captain," Renji said slowly, wondering what was the other thing that his captain was about to say but cut off instead.

"Good. You may leave," Byakuya dismissed his lieutenant.

Renji bowed once more, unsure, and walked out of office. At least he can get some of that much-needed shut-eye.

The redhead promptly snoozed the moment he slammed himself face-first to his lumpy _futon_, barely managing to change to his favorite white _cherry blossom _yukata.

* * *

Kuchiki Byakuya did not know what to make of this.

He just entered his quarters, expecting to find a bed already made up for him to settle in for the night, as per usual when he was in his residence.

It was not. In fact, the room was bare, save for the desk with his calligraphy materials neatly set on the side near the window.

He slowly walked into the room, as _small_ as he remembered it to be, finding himself standing in the middle, not unlike a lost and confused child, looking around for help that was not there.

There must be something here, a clue as to where to start. Surely, this was how normal people arrange their bedrooms, _with none of the beddings in sight._ Surely there must be a way for him to _sleep without having to lay on a bed-less floor_. He was about to curse his servants for screwing up but stopped himself from such irrational thoughts.

Byakuya found his left eye twitch and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he swept his eyes over the room once more. Finally noticing the door to built-in closet right in the corner of the room, he went and opened it to find his plush _futon _and silk covers folded in the bottom compartment, and almost sighed in relief. He noticed his sleepwear was neatly arranged in the upper compartment of the closet and took one set of the silk _jinbei_ out to change from his uniform—he did not bother going to the bath for he already took one in the Kuchiki Manor earlier that evening.

Making sure the curtains were closed, he swiftly pulled off his uniform and changed into the more comfortable sleepwear. His white captain _haori_ was then neatly folded and placed on top of the desk, next to his calligraphy set. Looking at his crumpled uniform, he wondered if he should leave them on the floor and someone would take care of that for him, or if he should place it somewhere more appropriate that he didn't know of yet. He decided to leave it be for now and simply folded the uniform as neatly as he could manage and placed it in one corner of the room.

He then attempted to make his _futon_, appreciating his servants' job more and more as he tried to arrange it just right in the middle of the room, the fabrics failing to cooperate with him quickly enough. How they could stand on doing this time-consuming activity every night was beyond him. Then again, they might be more adept and efficient since they've been doing it for _years_.

Just as the captain was about ready to tuck in and sleep, he froze.

His heartbeat slowed and his blood _curdled_.

His eyes widen as he felt _something_ almost physically tugging his body to sit up. He tried to resist the pull, his _reiatsu_ flaring and sweeping across the four walls to inspect anything of suspicion—there was none. He realized it came from _within_ him, something in his _reiryoku_, as his feet kept dragging him towards the doorway. Just as his hand opened the door, he felt, more than saw, a familiarly wild _reiatsu_ in the vicinity.

"Abarai?" he questioned under his breath, curious as to why his lieutenant was still awake since half an hour ago when he told him to leave, he was sure the redhead would go straight to his own quarters. The Kuchiki frowned, something was definitely amiss. He found himself standing on the balcony of the barracks, overseeing the entrance.

He watched as captivating strands of long **red** **hair** flew with the wind, the crimson locks shining under the intense light of the full moon, casting an almost bloody shadow on the ground as he jumped over the barracks' gates.

Feeling the tugging sensation again, Byakuya made a split-second decision to follow his errant subordinate, uncaring of his underdressed state—this time, he was still in control of his movements, though his whole psyche was telling him not to lose the redhead from his sight.

His trusted Senbonzakura was left forgotten, sitting innocently on the desk by his window.

The flash-step expert that he was, the Kuchiki Head was able to keep up with his lieutenant's _unusually_ fluid movements as he jumped quietly on the rooftops of Seireitei. He managed to suppress his own _reiatsu_ to conceal his presence from his lieutenant for now.

Strangely, the redhead's _reiatsu _also felt different; the raw quality of it was still there, but there was an almost... _lulling_ sensation that just pulled Byakuya _in_. It was not dissimilar to the human's myth of siren's call, in fact, it was eerily identical—the _reiatsu_ felt as if it was _singing_ to him.

Minutes that seemed like hours pass by, until the redhead came to a halting stop. The abruptness of it, topped with the hypnotic effects of the redhead's _reiatsu_ made Byakuya almost stumbled ungracefully. He took stock of their current location.

They were standing right in front of the Southern Gate of _Seireitei_, Byakuya a few meters behind his lieutenant. He didn't realize how far they traveled, and _how_ _fast. _

Byakuya observed his lieutenant. The redhead was still as a statue, his flowing, vibrant red hair the only thing that made him more alive than roses under the summer sun. He was wearing his infamous white yukata, the ends of the robe fluttered in the wind, the cherry blossom patterns almost coming to life.

Moments passed until Byakuya couldn't contain his curiosity anymore, and walked towards the redhead.

"Lieutenant," he called as he got closer. Hearing no response, he tugged the redhead's shoulder to face him, only to be surprised.

Renji's eyes were closed. His face serene, as if he was only sleeping.

_Was he sleepwalking_? the captain wondered. If that was it, what was the tugging feeling he felt? Not to mention the change in the redhead's _reiatsu_ characteristics.

Deciding that musing over unexplainable things would do him more trouble than he could handle that night, Byakuya was about ready to wake his troublesome lieutenant, to notice that he could not open his mouth.

He panicked, fingers clawing at his lips, and then he went limp.

His body was immobile, and he was losing his vision.

Until darkness took over him.

* * *

"_**Abarai Renji**__," a voice could be heard, familiar, almost like that of the Sixth Division Captain—but different; so expressive, so full of longing and sorrow. It was so close that Renji could feel the tickle of warm breath ghosted over his face. _

"_...Byakuya?" Renji inquired quietly, his voice similarly taking an unusual note. It was spoken with such familiarity, such intimacy to someone that he felt was not the 'Byakuya' he knew, that he felt he was intruding a private moment— even though it was his. He felt fingers ghosted over his skin-his eyes, his cheeks, his _lips_-and then they went away, leaving him strangely cold. _

"_**Wake up.**__" the voice spoke once again, this time in a more decisive yet regretful tone—not wanting to let go, to end—_

* * *

And the spell was broken.

Renji slowly opened his eyes and blinked once, twice, taking in his surroundings. In front of him stood the imposing figure a certain raven-haired captain.

"Captain...?" Renji asked, blinking owlishly. Noticing his captain being _so close, __too close_, jerked him to consciousness and he jumped a step backward in surprise, almost stumbling to the ground in his disorientation.

"Captain Kuchiki! What are you doing out here?"

"That should be my line," Kuchiki Byakuya remarked in concealed curiosity. He blacked out for a moment and suddenly he was awake, staring at his lieutenant, who was also _awake_ and actually had the _audacity_ to jump away from his presence.

"What?"

"You were sleepwalking." the raven told him simply.

"I—oh," Renji frowned as he realized that he was standing right in front of the Southern Gate of _Seireitei_, again. Renji blushed—only this time, his captain was there to see this humiliating episode.

"I'm terribly sorry for troubling you, Captain," the redhead bowed in hasty apology. After all, his captain even went out on his own to retrieve him—oh, he must've disturbed the Kuchiki's rest too, seeing that he was in his sleepwear—he was _so _in trouble.

"I was simply following you out of concern for any suspicious activities," Byakuya stated, his _jinbei_'s sleeve swishing as he turned and walked off to the direction of the Sixth barracks, wanting nothing more than to catch some sleep.

Renji blinked. _That's it? _

It took a moment for a still disoriented Renji to realize his captain was already leaving.

"W-wait for me, Captain!" Renji called a little too loudly as he moved to follow his captain, the incident pushed to the back of his mind for now.

"Don't be so loud, Lieutenant, people are resting."

* * *

_\- to be continued - _

* * *

**Additional Notes: **

_*filler arcs on Bleach manga before the final battle with Aizen, except the visored which is canon. I may have missed some._

_**Seireitei Communication is a monthly magazine published by the Ninth Division. _

_Kouhai_: junior; an underclassman; someone younger or with less experience in the field. Opposite of _senpai._

_Senpai: _senior; opposite of _kouhai._

_Nikujaga: _Japanese stew consisting of meat and potatoes.

_Chashu: _Japanese braised pork belly. It's so soft and chewy and melts in your mouth, _oh_, I am salivating just thinking about it.

_Jinbei: _Japanese traditional sleepwear/house wear. It consists of a top and an either short/long bottoms. Traditionally made from hemp or cotton. I imagine Byakuya having multiple sets of different sleepwear for different occasions, with the more practical _Jinbei_ as his choice for his nights in the Sixth barracks—of course, with the finest materials no matter how rudimentary a _jinbei _is, being the nobility he was.

_Haori:_ traditional Japanese kimono jacket, can be hip to thigh-length. Worn open or connected by strings on both lapels.

* * *

So the plot is slowly picking up. Can you imagine those two prowling around _Seireitei_ basically in their pjs? lol


	3. Chapter 3 - Catalyst

Chapter 3: Catalyst

* * *

The next few days were spent training the new recruits of the Sixth and First Division. The first morning of the training was hectic, the First Division recruits arrived at the Sixth's compound early in the morning, just as the sun breached the horizon. Renji had to usher them to the barracks' training field since they were looking so lost, huddled together like lambs in foreign pastures.

The next hour after that was spent gathering all the new recruits together and briefing them for their training menu for the next three days. Since getting the order from the Captain-Commander of this joint-training, Byakuya had appointed Renji to assemble the training regime for the new recruits, since Renji was more familiar with training them after all the years he spent managing the Sixth's recruits by himself—a task Byakuya had given him as one of his lieutenant duties.

The joint-training would look like this; the first and second day would be spent training on terrain outside of _Seireitei_ of Lieutenant Abarai's choice. It consists of endurance training, hand-to-hand combat, _kido_ training which will be supervised by Captain Kuchiki, and _zanpakuto_ mastery. The night of the second day would have the recruits train their flash steps as they return to the barracks to see if they learned proper handling of their _reiatsu_. The last day would be spent by the recruits to learn the basic administrative process and duties of being a shinigami, something that they all groaned at when Renji told them.

Thinking over the training schedule, Renji was a bit miffed that they had to jam-pack all of these within three days, _barely_ enough, as he was used to training his recruits for at least a week before he was satisfied with their progress. Then again, the number of recruits in this training was much lower since it was from the mid-year recruitment—53 in total, with 22 of them from the First Division—and it was the Captain-Commander's orders. Renji wouldn't even dare to _blink_ indignantly at his direction.

They were now on their way to the training ground that Renji had appointed. Renji had specifically asked Lieutenant Sasakibe of the First Division two days ago to remind their recruits to bring the necessities for the training camp, while he had worked the Sixth Division cooks to provide basic foodstuff for the two days they were away from the barracks. Hunting would be an option if only the site he chose was not barren of all food sources. It had good _reishi_ level though, perfect for prolonged training sessions and lessen fatigue. And hunting would take away the time the recruits should have spent training as much as they could within the joint-training, Renji reasoned.

"Renji-san, are we going to set up camp near _Inuzuri_?"

"What are you talking about, Rikichi?" Renji asked, raising his brows at his appointed aide for the next few days. Rikichi, while not a seated officer, was one of the most dedicated shinigami in his division. Renji took it upon himself to be his unofficial mentor since the first time he saw the lost looking new recruit wandering the vast halls of Sixth Division, not knowing what to do since all supervising officers were busy. Turned out he had been a great admirer of Renji, signing-up and joining the Sixth Division to follow his footsteps. While not as gifted as most, Rikichi's dedication to his training showed great potential for his future. He might be promoted to a seated rank in the next few years.

"Well, we're exiting through the Southern Gate, so I just assume... I'm sorry!" Rikichi shook his head frantically, not wanting to upset his lieutenant.

"Hey, it's fine," Renji chuckled at his frazzled aide, messing the tufts of raven hair.

Now that he thought about it, indeed, the location of the training site he chose was through the Southern Gate of _Seireitei_, near _Inuzuri_, his childhood district. It was a surprising coincidence.

_Not to mention_ _Southern Gate_, Renji thought, remembering last night's incident. He and his captain never got to talk about it, their trip back to the barracks was silent as his captain was far ahead of him. After they arrived, he couldn't think of anything than to push his face into his pillow and sleep. Just this morning, his captain left without a word other than telling him he was summoned by the Captain-Commander.

"It's... it's a cliffside I saw when I was scouting Rukongai on a mission some time ago," Renji finally explained to his expectant looking aide, " the area is big enough for our training sessions and to set up camps."

"The captain won't be joining us?" Rikichi asked with a small voice, Renji thought there was a hint of hopefulness in his tone. He couldn't blame the guy though, Rikichi _was_ afraid of Captain Kuchiki, as far as Renji knew.

"He was called in by the Captain-Commander this morning, something about finalizing a proposal," Renji said, then with a more apologetic tone, "He'll catch up later."

Renji didn't see the disappointed frown on Rikichi's face as he went ahead.

* * *

There was something familiar about this place.

Renji blew a strand of hair from his face, his hands moving behind his head to secure his loose ponytail as he peered past the cliffside he was standing on; it was particularly windy up there.

He just gave the recruits a small lunch break after they finished the first half of their training schedule for the day. The sun was way up on the sky, its blazing heat scorched the barren land Renji's group was currently on. They were high on a cliff further away from _Seireitei, _the capital city gleaming in the distance with the _Sokyoku_ Hill as its centerpiece and the harsh white walls of the _Senzaikyu _in the background. It was truly a _hot_, cloudless day. But the view was _breathtaking_.

"Abarai," Renji could sense his captain's presence behind him before the raven could announce it. He didn't know why he didn't turn to face his captain, though. He couldn't help but keep gazing past the cliff, past the whole horizon, as if looking _for something_ _that no one can see._

"Captain, they've finished doing some drills, and I made them do hand-to-hand," the redhead said distractedly, still not turning, "I just gave them their lunch break."

"That is acceptable," Renji heard his captain said somewhere beside him.

Byakuya observed his lieutenant, wondering what was going through the redhead's mind, that he would look so wistful and distracted, even with his presence—which would usually snap the redhead into attention immediately. He was captivated by the locks of red hair that flowed, reminded of last night's incident, how the strands moved in the shadow, the moonlight reflecting on the surface.

Now, with the glaring light of the sun and the wind caressing its fine locks, the hair looked like _fire_, licking in every which way the wind moved. And the red ponytail was not as stiff and spiky as it used to, instead falling like a waterfall and carried by the wind with how smooth and fine they were—_did he change his hair products?_ Byakuya idly noticed the lack of dark ink covering the redhead's face—which he did comment on but never truly _observed_—making him looked almost boyish without those sharp, harsh lines. How his eyes sloped down in a soft curve as he gazed into the horizon, and his lashes long and _red _and fluttering.

Byakuya didn't realize his mesmerized ogling until the object of his attention called him.

"Got an appetite for a late lunch, Captain?" Renji finally turned and smiled widely at him.

His breath hitched, Byakuya schooled his expression into its usual blankness. He couldn't believe that he _stared_ rudely at his lieutenant's unassuming figure as if a Neanderthal awed by fire.

Renji ushered him to a nearby tented area that the Sixth Division's staff had placed. There were a few long buffet-style tables with food made for the recruits to dig into during their lunch break, but there was one secluded spot away from the rest of the tented area that was reserved for Renji and his things—as he requested. On the tables were boxes of ingredients and portable cooking equipment and tools. One of the small tables holds a high stack of lacquered wooden boxes.

Byakuya found he was becoming quite hungry as he looked at the foodstuff laid out. He only had an unsatisfactory breakfast at the Sixth barracks before he had to go to the First Division to hear the Captain-Commander's decision on his proposed policies. At least the proposal was approved—no more _unruly and unprotected_ sexual affairs in _his_ division without proper consequences.

Renji moved to get a few foldable seats for him and his captain when he noticed a certain shinigami loitering nearby.

"Ah, Rikichi, just in time! I bet the barracks food is not enough for ya, I brought extra..." Renji rambled on as he pushed his aide to a seat and gave him a wooden box filled with food.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed into slits as he watched _his_ lieutenant served the unseated _staff_ a helping of Renji's _homemade lunch before the redhead got to serve him_.

His eyes widen in shock.

Did he just...?

"Sorry, Captain, here you go," Renji finally got by to give Byakuya his share of the lunchbox. Byakuya silently accepted the offered food with a nod of assent.

_Away with you, vile thoughts_, Byakuya reasoned with himself, digging into his food a little bit too quickly.

* * *

Renji was going around guiding the new recruits with their fairly new _zanpakuto_, teaching them how to maximize each unique property of their _zanpakuto_ and how to control their _reiatsu _to make the _zanpakuto _release smoother and less likely to cause damage to the wielder. Most of the recruits still had no idea what their _shikai_ was, and Renji focused his attentions on them so they could at least feel their _zanpakuto_ spirits at the end of the training.

It was the last thing on the schedule for the day, dusk arrived a few hours ago, lanterns and torches were lit to light up the training grounds and camp area. The recruits were already given time to build their tents for the night, as well as dinner, some were bunking in threes or more to save space since most of the area by the cliffside was perused for training. An empty slot was set aside on the edge of the camping grounds for the two high ranking officers.

Byakuya watched as his lieutenant was showing a few of the promising new recruits how to release their _shikai_ form properly. His role for the day to simply observe and take notice on notable individuals for future prospects—so far only a few were _slightly _above average.

He had a _kido_ demonstration right after his lunch, as per Renji's request—it was a part of the training schedule since he was the only one available with high-level mastery of _kido_ techniques—but that was it. While he was an excellent shinigami and captain, he had little patience to teach and guide inexperienced recruits, as he was more used to lead capable, experienced officers. He had an eye for details though, and so that was his job—to correct mistakes the recruits made that Renji didn't see, and objectively note improvements on individuals wherever Renji was not.

His observation was halted as Renji's little _aide_ caught his attention.

"E-excuse me, Captain," Rikichi stuttered, trying to get past his _terrifying_ captain to his tent to get burn ointment for one of the recruits—some minor accident with a fire-type _zanpakuto. _

Byakuya stood his ground, obstructing Rikichi from his path. He loomed over the young man, his eyes sharp and calculating.

"What is your relationship with the lieutenant?" Byakuya demanded more than questioned the younger raven to answer.

"What?" Rikichi's eyes widen. Did he hear that correctly?

"I do not like to repeat myself," Byakuya almost bristled, even the way this _aide_ talks irked Byakuya—_in a similar way Kurosaki Ichigo does, _he added mentally.

"I-I, I mean," Rikichi stuttered, breathing sharply then trying to compose himself," Renji-san is like an older brother to me, or-or, or a mentor," he continued, jumping back and flinching as his captain closed the distance again, "he, he was the one helped me get around when I first join the Sixth, " he continued, explaining himself frantically. Somehow in this very unusual scenario, he needed to assure his captain of his _relationship_ with his mentor, _and he didn't know why._

"I respect him, Sir!" he finally exclaimed, his eyes scrunched shut and his arms halfway up to protect his face, as if his captain was about to pummel him to the ground. He couldn't believe his luck!

Byakuya looked at the smaller raven coldly, contemplation in his eyes.

At last, the captain hummed disinterestedly, making Rikichi jumped in shock and scrambled away, his tails between his legs. Byakuya exhaled in satisfaction. _At least he is cowardly enough to not initiate anything_, he thought, turning his attention back to his lieutenant on the training ground.

Byakuya almost slapped himself at his thoughts. Maybe he was exhausted. he resisted the urge to massage his brows.

He was snapped out of his self-inflicted dilemma when he heard his lieutenant dismiss the recruits for the day.

"All right, good job on your first day, trainees! Line up tomorrow at six-hundred-hours. You are dismissed," Renji called, his recruit neatly lined up in front of him.

"Yes, Lieutenant Abarai!" they all shouted enthusiastically even in exhaustion and dispersed, chattering among themselves. Some were limping back to their tents, holding their sore backs and stretching their stiff muscles from overwork, while others lingered by the food tents, refilling their stomachs.

Renji grinned proudly, they were making good progress if he said so himself. And they were quickly warming up to him, which he was glad. He cringed when he remembered how his captain was quickly becoming a terrifying entity the moment he stepped into the grounds though, _they'll get used to him, I hope; for their own sake_.

Renji sighed loudly and turned to go to his camping area when he spotted his captain going in his direction.

"Captain!" Renji called, jogging lightly. He abruptly stopped when he realized something.

_Did Captain Kuchiki bring a tent? Did he _own_ one?_ Renji cursed himself, forgetting to tell his captain to bring a tent. His captain must have assumed they were provided by the barracks—given his lack of baggage other than his belongings when he arrived at the camp, he never went to any training camps with Renji and the recruits before, after all.

"You can bunk with me, Captain," Renji offered sheepishly.

"...what?" Byakuya narrowed his eyes, not understanding his lieutenant's intention.

"Don't worry about it, I got this really cool tent that I got from Akon-san—he's the guy from the Twelfth," Renji rambled on, walking to his camping spot and pulling out a small metal cube from his bag of clothes, "it's all packed into this tiny thing and when I press the button," he pressed a yellow button on the cube and seemingly out of it, white fabrics shot out and transformed into a spacious tent.

Byakuya was _almost_ impressed, if only he didn't hear about some suspicious _Akon person—from the equally suspicious Twelfth Division—giving things to his lieutenant_. It seemed like the redhead attracted more attention that Byakuya presumed.

"See, Captain? It's big enough for five people to sleep comfortably!" Renji said excitedly, that was the first time he used the device since he got Akon to demonstrate—he was glad that the man didn't charge Renji a single _kan_.

_'It was a prototype', Akon had said, 'you can be the first to try it out for real,' and thrust the device to Renji's hands after the redhead complimented his invention earnestly._

Snapping out of his _vile thoughts again_ for the third time that day, Byakuya finally understood what Renji was going on about in the first place. Byakuya didn't have his own tent, so his lieutenant was offering him to share _his. _

"I suppose I would have to," Byakuya agreed, going inside the tent after his lieutenant. Inside was as big as it looked from the outside, indeed, five people would fit, maybe not _comfortably_, as Renji had claimed. Renji put down an oil lamp and his belongings somewhere on opposite corners of the tent and pulled out some clothes from his bag.

Byakuya stopped in his tracks and his eyes went impossibly wide as he saw _his lieutenant stripping in front of him_. Surely this was _inappropriate, _he thought distractedly. But Byakuya couldn't help but stare. The sun-kissed skin revealed inch by inch, black fabric dragged languorously across taut skin covered with exotic tattoos. The fabric fell down, _down_ the impossibly _long_ legs and pooled on top of elegant ankles. _So those inks traveled further _down_. _He watched the redhead untying his hair, as distractingly _red_ locks cascaded down the smooth, _bare_ backside of his lieutenant, dark ink followed where his eyes traveled only to be covered by the long vermillion curtain, glimpses of their sharp edges showed behind the wispy tendrils, sloping _down _towards...

Renji paused and turned his head to the glazed-eyes raven, "you're not going to change, Captain?" he raised his brows, just now noticing that his captain was standing stock still nearby the entrance of the tent.

Byakuya inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, he heard himself spouting a _pathetic_ excuse while he steadied his breathing. _Of course_, the redhead was changing out of his uniform, _not _anything_ else_, he scolded himself sharply. But the fact that the redhead had no qualms of showing his body to anyone didn't sit well with Byakuya, he found. _You're going to be the death of me, Abarai. _

Renji slipped into his white yukata—Byakuya greedily ogled as the white material slid leisurely to cover the redhead's lean form—and got ready to rest, it had been a tiring day.

"I'm turning in first, then. Can you blow the lamp when you're done?" Renji called to his captain, not bothering with the formality anymore as he slipped into the _futon_ on his side of the tent and proceeded to snooze—not noticing the eyes that longingly gazed at his slumbering form.

* * *

_He found himself standing at the cliffside, as he was just this afternoon. The moon was hidden by the clouds, casting dark shadows across the horizon. _

"_You were born of this cliff," a familiar baritone voice said. Renji sharply turned to see a figure clad in shadows. _

"_Who...?" Renji trailed off. He drew his brows together in puzzlement as he tried to reach for the figure. A pale hand grasped his wrist gently; it was warm, and it was caressing his skin tenderly as a lover would. Renji shuddered at the thought. _

"_That is why you were drawn to it."_

"_What do you mean?" he questioned, increasingly anxious as he tried to draw his arm back to himself, "I was born in _Inuzuri_," Renji claimed, panicking when the hand didn't budge. He is _strong.

"_**Abarai Renji**__," another hand shot up to calm Renji's struggling form, squeezing his shoulder in comfort and slid to rest on his back. Renji stilled. _

_The obstructing cloud lazily dragged away from the moon, gentle yet cold light dispersing and reflected by the barren land on which they were standing—revealing the dark figure standing before him. _

"_It's you... isn't it?" Renji implored, finally looking at the person in front of him. Red orbs stared back at his brown eyes._

"_Bya...kuya?" he tested hesitantly, recalling the name he used when he was in a similar state of mind just the night before. It reeled Renji that the man in front of him shared his captan's name. _

"_You've grown," the man voiced tenderly, a hint of awe and pride in his tone. His fingers ghosted over Renji's face, knuckles grazing his cheeks softly._

"_Who are you?" the redhead asked, voice barely above whispering as he couldn't dare to raise it higher. Not with the man, who he noted was formidable, so close to him that they were sharing the very air they were breathing. _

_The man's eyes drew blank. The sweet, loving warmth gone, and he drew his hands away from Renji._

"_Soon," he uttered harshly, the word trembled with his ragged breathing, his eyes turning dark._

_Renji, realizing that the man was about to disappear before he even got his answers, reached out for the figure who was quickly moving away and fading into the shadows, following him. _

"_Wait! Why do you look like... like—"_

* * *

"—Abarai!" a strong arm encircled his waist and pulled him back as he nearly felt zero gravity. Renji snapped his eyes open and stared back at the _long _way down to the ground right under the cliff he was standing on.

He almost yelled in surprise and scrambled back away from the edge of the cliff, his back colliding with his captain's chest in his stumble. They would have fallen if Byakuya didn't have a steady hold of the frantic redhead.

"Be careful," Byakuya exhaled, his breath stuttering as he kept his hold tight on his lieutenant's body. _He almost fell, he almost—_

"Th-thank you, Captain," Renji managed to puff out, still gaping in shock at what nearly happened to him. His heart was beating rapidly like a war drum and his frame shaking from the adrenaline coursing rapidly through his body.

After a moment of calming himself down, Renji realized his captain was holding him rather _tightly_. He gently eased himself off and thanked heavens that his captain took the hint and swiftly withdrew his arms from his lieutenant.

"I really owe you now, don't I," Renji chuckled breathlessly to his captain in an attempt to lighten the mood. It was the second time that his captain had to retrieve him from his 'sleepwalking episode', and this time he had to actually _save_ Renji from falling to his demise—literally.

Instead of answering, Byakuya looked at him dead in the eyes and asked, "how many times has this happened?"

Renji grew quiet. He sighed and played with his loose hair, slightly annoyed that he didn't have his hairband on to keep his hair from his face in the windy weather. The moon was still high up on the sky, its borrowed light shining through the sparse clouds.

"This is the first time it happened outside of _Seireitei_," he muttered, somehow unable to look at his captain in the eye. This felt just like his dream—he didn't want to see the _red_ _eyes_ staring back at him.

Renji finally revealed to Byakuya of all the sleepwalking episodes he had, how it was already the third time it happened, and how the previous two occasions brought him to the Southern Gate of _Seireitei_. He even told him about the man in his dreams, and what he said to Renji.

Byakuya remained silent the whole time, features of deep thoughts, his eyebrows drawn together as he tried to make sense of what was happening to his lieutenant. And to him, he thought distractedly as he recalled how his body shot up from his sleeping position in the shared tent and urged him to go out to the cliffside, only to find his lieutenant walking towards the edge. He thanked his mastery of flash steps, for without it...

"And all the other times it happened before, it urged you to go to this location. However, the barrier surrounding _Seireitei_ might prevent you from leaving without the Gatekeeper noticing," Byakuya thoughtfully surmised, "because of that, you may have subconsciously chosen this place for the training."

If what Renji told him about the mysterious figure—who happened to share his name—was to be believed, someone was drawing the redhead into their playing field, for a game none of them knew of yet. Given all the incidents that happened in Soul Society before, mind control was not out of the box. Preemptive measures needed to be taken, Byakuya had to make preparations if what he feared was true. He would not let anyone take control of any of his subordinates, let alone _his lieutenant_.

"The _reishi _here is denser than other areas, that's why I chose it," Renji insisted, not wanting to believe that he was drawn to this place for any other reason than his own choice, "and it's close."

"Is that how it truly is, Abarai?" Byakuya queried softly, his gaze somewhat softening in understanding to what the redhead was fearing.

The look prompted Renji to hesitate. He simply didn't want to acknowledge it. He didn't, but his captain's eyes demanded his complete honesty.

"I... I don't know," he bit his lip, teeth gnawing the skin in restrained frustration.

"Why now, of all times? He said 'because I was born of this cliff', but I never felt anything before," he proceeded to ramble, his tone increasingly hysterical as he paced back and forth.

"Gosh, Hisagi-san was right, after all. This is so _cliché_," Renji groaned, rubbing his face harshly. Byakuya looked at him in question, he told the Ninth Lieutenant _before him?_

Renji continued, throwing his arms in exasperation, "and you know what's funny, Captain? He looks just like y—"

"Abarai," Byakuya stopped him. His voice tight, barely a whisper, tinged with shock and awe.

Renji turned to look at his captain in confusion. He was about to ask what was wrong when his captain uttered his next words.

"You are... _glowing_," Byakuya breathed.

* * *

\- _to be continued_ -

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

_Kido: _ a shinigami combat method based on advanced spells using _reiryoku_. Divided into three general forms; binding _kido_ (_bakudo), _offensive _kido_ (_hado_), and healing _kido_ (_kaido_).

_Zanpakuto: _a shinigami's main weapon of choice, taking form of a Japanese sword in its most basic form. Once a shinigami learn their _zanpakuto's _ name, they are able to communicate with the spirit of the _zanpakuto_, a sentient entity unique and reflective of each shinigami's power and soul.

_Shikai: _the initial release of _zanpakuto._ Shinigami have to learn their _zanpakuto_ spirit's name before being able to do this release. With _shikai_, a _zanpakuto_ will usually change its shape and combat properties according to the unique abilities the _zanpakuto_ has. To use _shikai_, a shinigami has to chant the release incantation and calling the _zanpakuto_ name (e.g.: Howl, Zabimaru).

_Reishi: _spiritual particle; main component of souls and spiritual matter in the spiritual realms, much like atoms that compose the physical world. _Reishi _also exists in the human world, although invisible to beings without spiritual awareness or certain levels of _reiryoku_. It can be manipulated to allow individuals certain capabilities, such as standing on air or using flash steps. I briefly use the concept of Quincy's capabilities (which I extend to spiritual beings like shinigami) on absorbing and manipulating _reishi_ as source of power in this chapter.

_Sokyoku Hill:_ a landmark in _Seireitei_; large, rocky hill with cliffs on all sides located in the middle of _Seireitei_. _Sokyoku_, a form of shinigami execution to those who commit severe crime, is located in this hill, hence the name.

_Senzaikyu: _lit. Palace of Penitence; a prison located in the middle of _Seireitei_, adjacent and directly linked to _Sokyoku _Hill.

_Kan: _the currency used in Soul Society, similar in value to Japanese Yen (JPY).

And then the device Akon gave Renji. Yep, it was a random thing, but I think it's well within the technological advancements of the Twelfth Division, seeing that they made synthetic souls (the mod souls like Kon) and all that. Not an important thing, just a plot device :)


	4. Chapter 4 - Supervision

Chapter 4: Supervision

* * *

"Captain?"

Byakuya snapped his gaze to Renji's brown eyes, a look of consternation visible in the redhead's face.

"Never mind, Abarai. It seems that I am fatigued," the noble informed after a moment of silence.

"We shall discuss this matter upon our return," he turned and began to walk back to their tent, avoiding further questioning from his lieutenant.

"Yes, sir..." the redhead muttered, repressing his confusion at his captain's strange behavior. He had this thing with the sleepwalking and the stranger in his dreams calling him out, and now his captain decided to act suspicious too.

Renji found himself snoozing the moment they settled in for the night—again. Besides him, the raven-haired captain was wide awake and staring at the ceiling of the tent, seemingly deep in thought.

Unable to resist his curiosity any longer, the captain finally turned his head to his lieutenant's side of the tent after making sure the redhead was asleep—from the sound of the short, even breathing and soft exhales that occasionally escaped his slightly ajar lips.

It was simply captivating to see.

At first, he thought it was merely a trick of the moonlight. How it seemed as if the light shone through the very being of the redhead, from the tips of his toes to the crown of his head. It glowed soft and dim, as pure white as the paintings of deities he encountered in holy shrines and majestic temples. What an ethereal picture the sleeping redhead made, Byakuya couldn't help but think. As if a divine entity bestowed upon the Earth, and Byakuya as a mere mortal, blessed by the gods to be gifted such creature so close to his reach.

He almost sneered at the imagery he concocted in his head—it was unlike him to be so sentimental.

Yet he couldn't tear his gaze from the slumbering figure of his lieutenant.

Byakuya didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

They returned to the Sixth Division just as the sun began to set. Byakuya noted that Renji's little new 'upgrade' was lost to everyone—including the redhead himself—except for Byakuya. A fact that made him questioned his state of mind on top of his insomnia.

It was the second and last day of training camp, the new recruits thoroughly trained and every bit of teaching, advice, and reprimand beaten thoroughly into their bones by both Lieutenant Abarai and—more so—Captain Kuchiki. They were just glad that the captain didn't supervise the _whole_ training camp, they would've all been comatose by his fast-paced, impatient teaching and harsh reprimands.

Compared to him, Lieutenant Abarai was godsend—both friendly and patient, yet reasonably strict, he was willing to go over any parts of the training that the recruits weren't able to understand the first time, and he was an overall fun and easygoing person despite his 'gangster' red hair—which, to be fair, added to his charm. He was the one to break off any near-beating the captain was about to give to any of the recruits whenever they managed to vex him, which was quite often—as they surprisingly found that the captain had a terribly short fuse when it comes to... certain matters, usually involving his lieutenant.

Safe to say Rikichi stayed away from the redhead whenever Captain Kuchiki was around, given their previous 'encounter'.

Arriving at the barracks, the lieutenant opted to help out at the kitchens to at least give the new recruits some sort of 'reward' for finishing training camp instead of another bland feast, while his captain and other officers—who were ordered to stay at the barracks to manage the Division's duties while the two officers were gone—supervise the new recruits on the barracks compound. Truth be told, the captain was merely monitoring the recruits for errant behavior while the lower ranking officers brief the recruits their temporary sleeping arrangements and their schedule for the rest of the joint-training.

Not long after the assembly was dismissed from the compound, and then left to wait in the mess hall, dinner was served. Cooks entered the area carrying large pots and platters of food to the long tables arranged in the middle of the room. Others were carrying mounting stacks of bowls, dishes, and various cutleries. The rumbling stomachs of the new recruits were echoed by the senior officers as they lined up to get their portions. They all dug in as they settled to their chosen spots. Murmurs and colorful conversations echoed throughout the mess hall.

"Lieutenant Abarai cooked this?" one recruit exclaimed to his group of friends after a friendly senior officer told them of the fact.

"Man, you guys in the Sixth are lucky!" another shoveled down the delicious morsels intertwined with piping hot rice.

"He doesn't normally do this though," the senior officer reminded, sipping the savory miso soup from his bowl.

"Do you think they would accept transfer permission so soon after just joining?" a gangly First Division recruit wondered. His group of friends gasped at the 'brilliant' idea he just put into their heads.

"Captain Kuchiki is scary, though," one solemn recruit quipped, shuddering at the memory of the raven-haired captain unsheathing his _infamous Senbonzakura_ because of a little slip up he made when he almost burnt Lieutenant Abarai's uniform during _kido _practice scant a few hours ago.

"Captain Yamamoto is a _lot_ scarier, don't you think," they were idly chatting now, their plates and bowls polished clean from the food they gobbled down just moments ago. Some were going back for seconds.

"But he's like, an old man. He's not going to actively hunt you down you when you look at his lieutenant the 'wrong' way," one new recruit shrugged offhandedly, making air quotation marks with his fingers. His friends 'ooh's at his remark, some nodding vehemently as if recalling 'incidents'.

"Yeah, and there's that..." one of them trailed off, shivering as if a _beast_ was preying on him. Turning around slowly from his seat, he gazed upon his impending doom.

They all let out a squeak and scrambled off the table they were lounging on when Kuchiki Byakuya's threatening glare zeroed in on them, as if he heard _everything_ they just said.

"Is there something wrong, Captain?" Renji snapped Byakuya from his dark gaze to the table across the room, turning his head to see what his captain was frowning at.

"I spotted some flies," the Kuchiki Head simply noted as he went back to his bowl, cutting a dainty piece of salmon teriyaki from the platter in front of him. Those leering imbeciles better not be talking about what he thought they were.

"In here?" Renji furrowed his brows, "should I get someone to exterminate them?"

"Not to worry, lieutenant. They have flown away."

* * *

"No. That's completely wrong. When you're writing a report you must write down the location and the time..."

"Your signature should go _here_ and your name written clearly so your supervising officer can..."

"Write it like this, see?"

"Yes, that one is good enough. But this part should—"

The redheaded lieutenant's instructions could be heard echoing through the quiet hall where all the new recruits were gathered to practice their knowledge of divisional administrative duties—paperwork, mostly—that they were taught some time ago by the very redhead himself, along with some other senior officers. He and some other officers were now going around the hall to inspect each of the recruits' progress on the little exercise they were given.

"This is unacceptable."

A timid recruit flinched at the sharp tone. A few of his friends sitting nearby winced and felt sorry for their friend's luck, or lack thereof.

"C-can you tell me which part to correct, Captain Kuchiki, Sir?" he requested with a gradually small voice, unable to look at the stark eyes that seemed to pierce into his soul. He wondered what did he do in his previous life to deserve such a fate. The captain had been going around 'harassing' his group of friends and now it was his turn. He _knew_ the captain heard them at the mess hall last night!

"The fact that you did not listen to your instructor's guidance beforehand _astounds_ me, cadet," voice heavy with unusual dark sarcasm, the terrifying Kuchiki loomed over the recruit's trembling form, a sneer threatening to break through his stoic façade.

He was enjoying this—if anyone looked closely enough, a glint of mirth was present in his eyes. While his behavior was borderline unprofessional, no one would dare to pull him away from his source of amusement, especially when it was to pick on insolent recruits who he _knew_ was thinking inappropriate thoughts about _his_ officer.

Oh, he didn't even bother dismissing his _vile_ thoughts anymore, as he let them run their course through his mind. There must be an end to this _phase_ somewhere, in time.

"Tell me," the raven drawled, eyes boring down the quivering recruit's form, "how did you manage to pass the First Division's recruitment test?" the poor young man almost cried until he blearily saw a hand grasping the captain's shoulder.

"Let me handle this, Captain," Renji grinned sheepishly, " I had someone prepared you a tea and some snacks by the front porch," he pointed at the open _shoji_ leading up to the barracks' only garden. Since Byakuya was fond of the gardens in his residence, he had a reputable landscape architect to recreate a small traditional rock garden complete with a pond full of koi fish at the barracks.

Byakuya pondered his options momentarily—the redhead looked particularly angelic with the sunlight adding to his own glow—and assent to his lieutenant's silent request _to not scare any more new recruits goddammit_, with a low hum.

He stood and made his way to the exit to enjoy an afternoon break. All occupants in the room let out an almost simultaneous sighed of relief once he was out of hearing range and adoring gazes were thrown to the redhead. Renji almost snorted in amusement at that and shook his head, barking orders to focus on their assignments.

Byakuya felt his lips curled as he sipped his tea—his lieutenant did not brew this one, the leaves were left to brew a tad too long, leaving a bitter acidic aftertaste. He tested the _senbei_, nibbling on one edge, noting that it _was_ made by the redhead; the saltiness and crisp skin was distinct and tailored to Byakuya's taste buds. He devoured the cracker in two bites and reached for another one as he sipped his tea.

He paused in the middle of biting the second cracker and found himself frowning at the implication that he was obsessively noting every little detail of his lieutenant to the level that he _knew_ the difference of the _tea and snacks that the redhead made compared with others_.

His silent brooding was cut short when he saw an unwelcome visitor strolling through his garden. He disdainfully observed the nonchalant gait the _orange-haired_ _aberrant_ had as he came closer to where Byakuya was sitting.

"_Yo_, Byakuya," the substitute shinigami greeted insolently, his grin widened as he watched the raven's brow ticked.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya acknowledged, "Your continued impudence irks me."

"So you've been saying," the other shinigami smirked as he plucked one _senbei_ from the platter by Byakuya's side and proceeded to gobble the salty-sweet snack. The act did not fail to irritate the captain further.

"What is your purpose here," he demanded, no longer tolerating the substitute shinigami's behavior as he shifted the platter away from his reach as he stood up to loom over the other—his preferred method of intimidation, apparently. Unfortunately, the orange-haired man was impervious to the act, what with his track record of taunting and baiting people stronger than he was and getting away with it most of the time.

Ichigo sobered from his amusement and took a serious tone, "I came with Yoruichi-san to tell old man Yamamoto about some suspicious Hollow activities. These new Arrancars... they seem like they were searching for something. They were getting closer and closer to the edge of the forest in Karakura Town, which is weird since they fed off human souls..." he trailed off, frowning.

After the renewed alliance with Urahara and his acquaintances, the visoreds, along with the newfound ally they found in Kurosaki Ichigo and his group of spiritually gifted friends, Gotei 13 of Soul Society deemed it acceptable to leave day-to-day monitoring of the souls along with occasional Hollow exterminations to them. Certain conditions needed to be maintained to assure their continued cooperation, however; that they must report any and all suspicious activities to Gotei 13, and should not in any way act on their own lest they strain the fragile partnership. After all, Gotei 13's good words were the only reason these mismatched groups could coexist in the Material World without Central 46 interference.

"Have you given your report to the Captain-Commander?" Byakuya finally inquired. Indeed it was unusual for the Hollows to not flock over the human souls within the perimeter of the town. However, Byakuya was reminded that these Hollows, these... Arrancars, they were controlled by Aizen Sousuke. There must be something he was searching for tirelessly if he would risk gaining the suspicions of all the allies the Gotei 13 has in the Material World.

"We just did. He asked us to monitor their activities for now," Ichigo explained, rubbing the back of his neck, "what's bothering me is that it feels like... Aizen is onto something here."

Off the top of his head, Byakuya listed off spiritually reactive artifacts hidden all across Karakura Town that were once the possession of the many ancient nobilities of Soul Society. Kuchiki Koga* briefly lingered in his thoughts. But Byakuya personally saw to his demise by his own hands.

None of the other artifacts that he knew of were worthy of Aizen Sousuke's time, what with the divinely powerful Hogyoku in his possession. He silently concluded that, perhaps, even Aizen himself didn't know of what he was searching for, _yet_.

A flash of glowing red hair came to mind.

He immediately shook that thought from his head. He didn't know what it was all about yet, but he would be a fool to draw a hasty conclusion on the little information that he had. it must've been the more ancient artifacts that Aizen was searching for, something that escaped Byakuya's brain. He would make sure to search through the Kuchiki's older archives when he returned to his residence.

Even so, he couldn't help but feel the creeping anxiousness at the back of his mind.

"Ichigo! The hell are you doing here?"

"Oi, Renji," Ichigo was drawn from his thoughts as he turned to face his friend, "is that how you treat a friend visiting after all these months?" he teased, drawing the redhead to a one-armed hug.

"Check out my new look, man," Renji pulled back to point at the top of his head, his expression excited for approval.

Ichigo squinted as he checked his redheaded friends new 'look', "Woah, Ren... you look like an actual high schooler now!" he slapped the redhead's shoulder good-naturedly. Renji harshly pinched the substitute shinigami's cheeks, daring the orange-haired shinigami to tease him further.

_Ren...? _Byakuya seethed internally, also distracted from his thoughts, as he watched the _overly friendly_ interaction between the two. Not only did the _substitute_ gave his lieutenant a hug, but he also _dared_ to give him an affectionate nickname?

"We're training some new recruits," Renji said when Ichigo asked what he was doing inside the hall before he came out, "hey, you can join us for dinner!" he exclaimed, Byakuya had to school his feature lest he let out an actual _growl_.

"But I already made plans to go back in a few," Ichigo shrugged sheepishly, also not wanting to push his luck, seeing the raven-haired captain was practically vibrating with barely contained rage next to the redhead, who remained ignorant to his surroundings.

"_Aw_, come on, Ichigo," the lieutenant groaned in disappointment, "it'll be a big send-off dinner for the First Division's recruits. _I'm_ cooking," he added for good measure, wiggling his brows smugly.

"You?" Ichigo asked as if disbelieving, "...seriously?"

Seeing the affirmative nod, he threw caution out of the window. No way he was missing out on Renji's _legendary_ cooking, especially since he didn't get to experience it as often as his friends who _were _actually living in Soul Society, the lucky bastards. Not that he wanted to be a permanent resident.

"Well, I guess I have to stay now," he relented, "just let me tell Yoruichi-san about it first, she's with the Second Division right now." _teasing Soi Fon, I bet_. Ichigo took out his soul pager and punched in Yoruichi's contact.

"Sure, tell her she can come too," Renji told him. _Finally_ feeling the menacing aura next to him, he looked at his captain's dark expression.

"Or not...?" he wondered, tilting his head hesitantly at his captain to seek his approval. He knew how much the Kuchiki couldn't stand the black cat, after all.

Seeing Renji's earnest expression, Byakuya breathed in deeply, "...she may."

* * *

"Oh, _Byakuya-bo_, you didn't tell me your_ fierce little tiger_ here can cook so well!" an infuriating squeaky voice of a certain black cat grated his ears.

"Keep your mouth shut, Shihouin," the Kuchiki Head grunted as he picked a helping of _wakame_ crab salad from the bowl in front of him.

"What's this? You're acting like a newlywed, it's so _sweet_, you're giving me cavities," the cat drawled teasingly. Yoruichi was present in her cat form, finding herself more comfortable in the small feline form. She was currently helping herself to the food that Renji and the Sixth kitchen staff prepared that night to send off the First Division new recruits.

The theme that night was seafood. Byakuya himself provided Renji with the financial means to purchase high-quality ingredients, which the redhead couldn't thank his captain more. Picking a piece of _sashimi_ with her claws, Yoruichi continued teasing the increasingly irritated captain.

Hearing the borderline _inappropriate _words spewing out of the playful cat, Renji felt his face warmed up and bowed his head to concentrate on the bowl of rice in front of him. He couldn't exactly yell at her, she was a former captain, after all. But darn it if he didn't have a thing or two to say to that cat. He understood now why his captain hated to have her around. With her blatant teasing and baiting, he would have been mad, too.

"Don't mind her, Renji, she's a bit... wild," Ichigo consoled from next to him, only looking up from the food heaven he was in when he noticed the awkward atmosphere surrounding his friend.

"Uh-huh," Renji hummed disbelievingly, getting back to his food and trying his best to ignore the black cat's unnecessary commentary.

Ichigo shrugged almost in a guilty manner when Byakuya snapped his glare to him, as if blaming him for everything bad that happened to the world. He shifted slightly away from his close proximity to the redhead to humor the captain a tiny bit.

_Geez, that guy, it's like something is going on with him and Renji_, Ichigo thought suspiciously. _Or maybe it's just him_, he added to his musing, knowing the oblivious redhead, almost feeling sorry for the raven sitting across the large table. The buzzing noise from the celebrating recruits all across the mess hall drowned out his thoughts.

Much later that night as he returned from the Sixth's bathhouse, freshly cleansed after the First Division recruits' send-off dinner and couldn't wait to hit the hay, Renji spotted his captain with a conspicuous bundle in his hands.

"Captain, what are you doing with those?" the redhead asked as he went after his captain.

"I am to dispose of these sullied garments," Byakuya answered, looking at the soil-ridden clothes from the training camp in distaste while keeping his stride. It was below him to carry items in such condition, but he persisted that he could handle without his servants to cater to his whims—at the very least to prove to Rukia that he was capable and she was wrong.

"Wha—you mean you're going to throw them away?" Renji gaped in disbelief. From what he saw it was merely dirt and grimes, he could wash them off easy!

"They have been dirtied, therefore of no more use," the noble stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and shamed Renji for not understanding such simple logic.

"You can _clean_ them, Captain!" the redhead exclaimed frantically, finally stopping his captain in his tracks by standing in front of him. The raven stood still and stared at Renji in barely concealed irritation.

"You mean you don't know that clothes are laundered?" Renji asked bluntly.

Almost clicking his tongue but stopped himself before committing such _boorish_ behavior, the captain explained himself, "I am aware of that, Lieutenant. However, I am in no possession of the knowledge to do so, for I have never needed them before. Therefore the next most logical step is to dispose of these garments."

Renji seethed and almost wanted to bang his head to the noble's, in hopes of putting some _common sense_ in there, _this is just next level royalty _bullcrap_,_ he thought.

"Give me those, Captain," Renji held out his hands, gesturing for the raven _snob_ to hand over the perfectly fine garments about to be disposed to god knows where. Incineration facility, perhaps.

Seeing that his captain made no move to hand over the bundle, he continued "I'm going to give them back to you when they're _clean_," he grounded out, looking pointedly at his captain and the clothes in his hands.

Byakuya silently handed over the bundle to the redhead who swiftly turned and sauntered away, sighing loudly in exasperation, leaving the raven to stare blankly at his lieutenant's glowing figure.

_That white yukata nicely hugs the backsi—contain your thoughts, Kuchiki. _

* * *

After sending the First Division on their way the next morning, Byakuya had the returning seventh and ninth seats to supervise the recruits and manage the rest of the paperwork as he and his lieutenant were deemed deserving of the rest of the weekend break. They would still have their hell butterfly and soul pagers active in case of emergencies, but mundane paperwork was off their hands for the rest of the weekend.

Renji whistled as he made his way to his apartment in Rukongai, thinking over the last few days. In the end, he didn't get to discuss his... incidents, with his captain, after all. While he couldn't blame the circumstances—they were terribly busy with handling the recruits, not to mention finishing off paperwork that couldn't be handed off to the other officers, finishing late at night and both too tired to think of theories of what happened.

The thought of the discussion was also out of his mind when he was given the rest of the weekend off, clearly not liking the notion of thinking about things other than how soft the bedding at his apartment was. Besides, he didn't have any more 'episodes' after that night by the cliffside. He was even sure that it was just a 'phase'. And he simply ran off after his captain had given the words, not giving the raven a chance to even mention anything of any sort of talking between the two of them.

Arriving at his apartment building, he climbed the stairs to his floor and opened the lock by his door. He went to his room to change to some more comfortable clothes, stretching his limbs along the way, when he noticed something. He frowned and look around the small bedroom.

Why was his room so _bare_?

Zooming out of his room frantically, he checked every corner of his house—every piece of furniture, drawer and rack that he had in his small apartment. He made his way around the house and ended up in his room again.

His furniture was all there, along with his kitchenware and ingredients. Everything was in place, neat as he left them—and clean. Surprisingly _clean,_ despite him only coming home for the week.

But all his clothes, his memorabilia, his little knick-knacks and photographs. His **expensive** _headgears_.

Gone.

_All of them_.

The redhead felt his lower lip trembled as his eyes felt pin-pricks of moisture, mourning the tremendous loss of his invested _money_.

_No. No no, you're kidding me... Why is—wait what's that?_

A piece of paper was lying on his _tatami_ flooring near his neatly folded _futon_. He crouched to pick it up. It was tri-folded, and sealed with wax. Renji tore it open and scanned the curt content of the message.

'_Abarai Renji. Do not be alarmed by the state of your residence. Go to the Kuchiki Manor and all would be explained.'_

It was signed with the Kuchiki Family seal. He turned the paper over and saw that the wax was also stamped with a similar seal. So it's the real thing. But _why?_

"Why would—goddammit," the redhead swung his hands above his head, growling in frustration. He just got back and wanted to at _least_ rest his muscles from four days of work and training the recruits—and _this_ had to happen. He shrugged back his black outer uniform and went out of his apartment in a dash—only to went back in to grab his almost forgotten Zabimaru. He set out to the long way to Kuchiki Manor.

He didn't know why his stuff was gone and why there was a note with the Kuchiki Family signature on it, but if he was going to get any headways he knew he needed to start at the most obvious place. Hopefully, someone in there would tell him what was going on. Did he got robbed? Did someone from the Kuchiki saw what happened so they want him to come to tell him about the situation? Did some rogue Kuchiki servant _rob_ him so they called him in to tell him what happened and shut his mouth about it to avoid scandal? Did his captain knew about this, he just got back too?

Nearing the entrance of the humongous estate, he saw two family guards standing at the front—a fairly unusual sight since they would usually loiter around unseen in the shadows, ready to strike at the most opportune moment.

"Abarai Renji-dono, you are expected inside," one of the guards told him with a slightly muffled voice behind his mask.

"Uh, thanks," Renji muttered, going inside as the other guard opened the gate for him. As he stepped through, a man wearing an expensive-looking kimono greeted him with a bow. He bowed back awkwardly, not used to having people tending to him when he visits. Usually, he came with Rukia, and there was no one around to greet them as they stumbled through the compound. This was getting rather odd.

"This way, Abarai-dono," the strict looking man—he looked twice his Captain's age, maybe a bit older—gestured for Renji to follow. He followed the man into the estate, going to an area he never went to before—the place was _huge_, and he only ever visited the gardens when Rukia invited him for tea or drinking parties back before her older brother monitor her every behavior. He also noticed some of the guards slinking back and forth around the area. _Something is definitely up_, he thought, frowning.

The man—Renji was now convinced he was the head servant—stopped in front of a _shoji_ door and kneeled down, gesturing Renji to do the same. This was it, behind the door was someone who may tell Renji the answers to his questions. He distractedly wondered if his captain was home, or if he knew about any of this. _Do other family members even live here? I've only ever since Captain and Rukia around, _he distractedly mused.

Opening the _shoji_, the man bowed to the person sitting inside, announced Renji's presence, and left the vicinity quietly.

Renji coughed into his fist to alleviate some of his nervousness, the person was sitting in front of a calligraphy table, brushes and ink set neatly to the side as the man's pale hand was brushing something on a high-quality scroll. His face was covered by dark hair that fell from his shoulder from his slightly bent head.

"Take a seat, Abarai," a familiar baritone reached him, the man finally turned to face the redhead by the door.

"Captain Kuchiki?" Renji almost yelled in surprise. He stood up and walked into the vast room, almost tripping on the _shoji_ slider, and sat in front of his captain who finally put down his large brush to the side, careful not to let his grey yukata sleeve brush over the still drying ink on the paper.

"What's going on? My house had been ransacked and there's this note with your family seal on it..." Renji trailed off, slightly embarrassed by his loud voice as a young female servant announced her presence to offer some tea and light snacks for the two. Renji thanked her as Byakuya nodded, she promptly excused herself.

"As we had discussed by the cliffside but a day ago, it seems that someone has been monitoring you," Byakuya sipped his tea slowly, minding the heat of the fresh brew.

"Yes...? Wait, what does this have anything to do with—"

"I am not to be interrupted, Lieutenant," the raven said lowly, his voice taking a sharp edge of warning.

"Yes, Sir," Renji mumbled. _You _sure _like to interrupt me though_, he thought snidely.

"Due to the... unique circumstances," Byakuya continued, eyeing his lieutenant's still _glowing_ form that only he could see," and the fact that it is not an entirely... clear matter that could be filed in as a common report to the Captain-Commander, I have concluded that this, _these, _incidents are to be kept outside of official notice, for now."

Renji slowly nodded. He agreed with his captain completely. No one would believe them without actual evidence, anyway. Due process and all that. Maybe except for Hisagi, the conspiracy theorist that he was.

"However, a form of constant supervision is needed if the matter was to be made clear for a more direct measure to be taken," his captain continued. Now, this was when the redhead paused for a moment to digest the words his captain spouted.

"Constant... 'supervision', Captain?" he asked, unsure if what he heard was right. On who? Him? _Constantly? _Wait a _damn_ second—

"Indeed, Abarai. You may have noticed that your missing belongings and the note left in your residence were connected," Byakuya confirmed, an almost amused glint visible in his ever stoic eyes.

"You... You mean—"

"Nii-sama! Is Renji truly going to live with us?" an overexcited Kuchiki Rukia slammed her hand to the _shoji_ as she skidded to a stop before the gaping redhead.

Byakuya sipped his tea.

* * *

An intimidating structure of pure white stood erect in the middle of an endless desert, bearing the powerful fortress that stretched across the horizon. A ceiling-high opening slit through one of its towering walls, a man standing before it to feast upon the fantastical sight.

"It will come to us, eventually," the man foretold, his voice deep in anticipation.

"How do we know?" another questioned, standing within the shadows, his light tenor heavily accented and laced with curious amusement.

The first man smiled, a strand of brown hair caressed by the gentle wind entering the imposing fortress he claimed his own, overlooking the moonless sky and white sand as far as the eyes can see.

"The **Hogyoku** wills it."

* * *

_\- to be continued -_

* * *

Additional Notes:

_Hogyoku: _lit. crumbling sphere; hollow-fication property, bridging the gap between Shinigami and Hollows, creating the Arrancar; desire manifestation. It is thought to be sentient, but not conscious. There used to be two _Hogyoku_, one of Aizen and one of Urahara Kisuke. Aizen managed to get the _Hogyoku_ that Urahara hid within Kuchiki Rukia, and combined it with his own to complete the orb's 'true' abilities.

_Shoji: _Japanese sliding door, window, or room divider, made of paper (usually washi paper) on a frame of wood.

_Senbei: _Japanese rice cracker that comes in different variety of sizes and flavors. A light snack that is usually paired with green tea.

_Central 46: _an authoritative body that mandates over the judiciary, legislation and governmental operations in Soul Society. Consists of forty wise individuals gathered across Soul Society and six judges.

_Kuchiki Family guards: _they have shinobi-like uniform and indeed, usually remains in the shadow like one.

_*Kuchiki Koga is Kuchiki Byakuya's uncle, who betrayed Soul Society by vindictive massacre of the shinigami due to some officers framing him unjustly. He was later sealed by Ginrei and put in Karakura Town. His past is what acted on his zanpakuto, Muramasa, which started the zanpakuto-rebellion arc in Bleach (non- canon filler). He was later eliminated by Byakuya at the end of the arc. _


	5. Chapter 5 - Settle

Chapter 5 - Settle

* * *

"No!" Renji shouted, half in shock, half in denial. He couldn't be hearing Rukia right, could he?

He peered uncertainly at his captain, who was still calmly nursing his teacup, "right, Captain...?"

"Your assumption is correct, Rukia," the Kuchiki noble stated, answering his sister's previous query instead of minding the redhead's need for confirmation. Despite the increasingly thickening tension in the room, he pushed through with a calm demeanor as if to offset the outrage his lieutenant was surely going to make.

"Oh Renji this is going to be great!" the smaller Kuchiki exclaimed, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

Then, as if reminded of something, sobered to a sheepish mumble, "I'm sorry about your apartment though."

"Yeah, thanks to you Kuchiki people for taking my stuff," he said sarcastically, his tone sharp but clearly distracted from the panicked thought of his captain _wanting him to move in so he can be monitored all the damn time. _

"Well, that _too _but—"

"Now what the _hell_ are you talking about?" Renji demanded suspiciously, cutting his friend's sentence short. His temper was not the best thing to test right now, because he just found out that his captain took his things without his permission, and he hadn't _yet_ to scream at the infuriatingly calm raven for that, who, he might add, was _idly nibbling on a piece of _kaki no tane_ right now._

"Wait, I thought you're here because you already knew...?" Rukia trailed off hesitantly. Seeing the disgruntled look in her redhaired friend's face, she knew she was in for it. _Did nii-sama not tell Renji anything?_

She looked at her brother for help, but seeing that he wasn't about to answer to his actions just yet, she quickly sum up, "Uh, your apartment complex was bought in for a new entertainment complex project, _sortathing_."

"The _whole_ complex?" Renji raised his eyebrows incredulously, "who the heck got the money to do that in Rukongai? I mean the Shiba is there, but last time I checked they're all busy making _firecrackers_ for a living_,_" he rambled, now very much derailed from the more pressing matter. He was not known for staying on topic for long, after all. His short attention span was comparable to that of a _cat_.

"Well... it wasn't anyone in Rukongai," Rukia shrugged, annoyance in her voice due to her brother's nonchalance. As much as she admires her adoptive brother, she was about ready to drop the bomb that she knew she would watch in snide satisfaction as it blows up on her brother's cool face in the shape of a certain redhead. But her plan was torn apart when her brother cut in before she could.

"The Kuchiki Family bought the complex if you must know, Lieutenant," Byakuya calmly explained, his tone deep and almost _bored_, as if it wasn't worth his time. Rukia could almost feel the eye-roll, if only he was a lesser man.

But that wasn't the problem right now, as she discreetly peeked to see her oldest friend's reaction. She could see his form _trembling, _his _reiatsu_ spiking almost erratically. _Oh boy, is he gonna get it_, she thought of her brother's fate, grimacing.

"Sorry," she half-whispered as if it was going to help the situation.

It just tipped the redhead to the edge.

"What!" Renji roared. His _reiatsu_ clearly going off to reflect his fury. The whole room was blasted by the force of his _reiatsu_, _now he got back on track. _

Byakuya's scrolls and brushes falling off the table he was currently sitting in front of, and his newly finished work strewn off to land on his lap, the fresh ink seeping into his yukata. Eyebrows furrowed in irritation, he let out a burst of _reiatsu_ of his own almost instinctually. It was his _favorite_ yukata and it was his _most _extensive calligraphy work yet.

Sensing the catastrophe that was about to blow over, Rukia quickly stood up and excused herself.

"Whelp I better see to your stuff in case the movers damage your headgears!" she shouted behind her back as she sprinted off the vicinity, telling the servants lurking nearby to not go near that room.

Abruptly snapping out of his furious thoughts when hearing about 'his headgears', Renji called to the escaping raven, "my what! Rukia, wait—she's gone," he banged his head against the _shoji_, "great."

Calming down from his outburst also, Byakuya picked up the brushes and scrolls that were thrown close to his reach, setting the now ruined calligraphy from his lap to the side to be thrown away later, he adjusted his yukata and as calmly as he could, tried to wipe the ink stain on his lap.

"Do not be alarmed, Abarai, it is all as planned," Byakuya remarked coolly, slowly scrubbing the ink—that will surely stain forever, so he would have to dispose of it anyway—to keep his hands from being idle following the silent tension in the room.

Something told him that the redhead already worked that piece of the information by himself, though, given his outburst.

Sitting up straight to pierce his captain with his glare, his nose flaring in barely retrained anger with how infuriatingly calm the Kuchiki was despite his hands in the matter.

"_You_," Renji pointed accusingly at the noble, formality and due respect for a supervising officer be _damned_, "bought the whole _fucking _apartment complex—_my _apartment_—_to make an entertainment center that is all a _ruse..._ to get me to _move here,_" he growled out the last words, the sentence more of a statement than a question as he kept his glare at the raven-haired noble.

"Indeed."

"B-but, but _why!_" Renji sputtered out indignantly, thrown off-guard by the simple and _innocent_ response, forgetting his rage for the moment.

The Kuchiki exhaled softly, narrowed his eyes in annoyance, "Did you not hear my previous explanation, Lieutenant Abarai?" he really did not like to repeat himself, moreover, the redhead proved to be quite distracting in his fury with his glowing form adding to his surprisingly attractive anger. His _reiatsu_ seemed to add its color to the glow, giving it a reddish hue, which suited the redhead quite charmingly.

He was pulled off his train of appreciative—but very much inappropriately timed—thoughts when the lieutenant spoke next.

"I haven't told you this, Captain, but I haven't had any 'weird' episode since that night at the cliff, I swear!" Renji exclaimed, " and I'm pretty sure it's all a-a, a weird, isolated, _completely delirious episode that will never happen again_!" his voice taking a hysterical pitch as he tried to prove the ridiculousness of Byakuya's actions.

"Abarai," the Kuchiki called his name sharply to snap him from his hysteria, "it seems you are under the impression that whoever was monitoring your movement doesn't have the ability to take alternative actions," he ground out. Just the thought of his stubborn lieutenant being left alone and the incidents happened again without Byakuya around made him want to punch the nearest wall. But it appeared the redhead just did not get the situation he was in.

He was disappointed that his second-in-command had little regard to his own safety, and to the risks his continued exposure to the 'threat' without Byakuya's watchful eyes could bring to Soul Society as a whole. For all he knew, the incidents surrounding his subordinate was linked to a much larger scale of threat. Even Aizen.

The Kuchiki Head frowned, "If indeed so, you are more naïve than I previously thought."

Renji flinched at his captain's insinuation, "you mean... there's a chance that," he gulped, "there's a chance that they... _he_ is going to do more?"

Only now did he think about the other, much worse scenarios of his dismissal of the matter. Even if he thought it was a ridiculous notion, he realized that all and every risk that could threaten the peace in Soul Society should be accounted for and investigated thoroughly, including what he experienced scant a few days ago. Indeed, for him to sleepwalk consecutively for three days and meeting a suspicious person in his visions that seemed to be waiting for something...

"How are you so sure it's _real?_" Renji muttered softly, wondering how his captain can be so certain when Renji was doubtful. He experienced them, but at the moment, he just couldn't help but feel as if it was all just a weird dream.

'Because I experienced a peculiar incident with my _reiryoku_ and you are glowing since that night, and I know it's all connected,' was at the tip of his tongue, but Byakuya decided now was not the time to confuse the redhead even more, what with him being the only one who could see the phenomenon. he was relieved that his lieutenant continued, so that he would not have to explain himself, which he couldn't, anyway, not without revealing that piece of information.

"Captain... we don't even know if he's a friend or foe," Renji trailed off, his tone unsure.

For all he knew, that person in his visions; he could be harmless, couldn't he? From what Renji remembered, the red-eyed man gave off a tortured vibe rather than a threat, as if an exile biding his time, thirsty for contact with his beloved. Renji didn't want to think of _who_ that person was, reminded how the man caressed him so tenderly, his eyes so _red_ and longing. _Familiar_. He couldn't think of that man as an enemy. And it terrified him.

"Which is precisely why I am conducting this plan to determine their status," Byakuya stated matter-of-factly. He could see the light of understanding beginning to show through his lieutenant's eyes, for which he was glad. He wasn't in the mood for a prolonged debate with the stubborn redhead.

"I—okay. Alright," Renji finally relented, "I'm trusting you on this. Even though I can't say if I agree with how you do things," he said imploringly, hoping that his captain would at least say a word or two that showed his remorse for his actions, even indirectly.

"It is efficient," Byakuya offhandedly drawled, his tone dismissive, a cue for Renji to let the matter go.

Renji's eyes narrowed, "it disregards my consent and breaches my privacy, _Captain Kuchiki_," the redhead bit out, his voice wet and his dissipating rage came back full force. This time, hurt got thrown in the mix, at how his captain could be so insensitive to others' feelings. It was a different kind of anger. It was not explosive nor was it loud and expressive; it was quiet, and it cut deeper into Byakuya's stunned reverie than any outbursts.

Renji stood up quietly, his eyes downcast, "but I see that you don't _care_ about any of that."

"Abarai—"

"Excuse me, Captain. Got stuff to unload," the redhead said behind his back as he took his leave. Somehow, Byakuya could hear the thickness in his lieutenant's voice, the stuttered exhale of breath; and he dreaded the implication.

* * *

The next time Rukia found Renji, he was quietly shuffling through his things that he found in his assigned room at the manor. She took careful steps as if approaching a wounded animal, making sure she kept her _reiatsu_ in check as to not surprise the redhead.

At first he remained silent, his hands moving deftly to separate his clothes and trinkets. He was silently glad that the movers took care to not damage his accessories. The first time he entered the room after a servant came to escort him, he was surprised to see how spacious it was. Definitely much bigger than his apartment, dare he say it was as big as the room his captain was in previously. He took to silently arranging the room that would be his, dismissing the servant when he offered to assist him.

He knew he couldn't ignore the remorseful Kuchiki, even though it wasn't in any way her fault, any of it. He noted that it was always her who felt the most regret when bad things happen to those who are close to her, as if everything was on her. The moment he let her assist him, he could hear her sigh of relief and light cheerfulness coming back to her voice.

She profusely apologized during the time; for her ignorance, for her brother's insensitive gestures, and anything and everything she could come up with. Renji had to stop her from her increasingly depressing thoughts and patted her head in forgiveness. The raven-haired girl was glad that at least her friend was forgiving, though she couldn't help but think that there was something that both her brother and her friend was not telling her. It was one thing to be upset knowing he was abruptly being moved by her brother, but Renji's reaction, not to mention the aftermath where she found him at his room, it screamed that something was very off. She didn't try to pursue this suspicion of hers, though, she didn't want to upset the redhead further.

After that, lightness came back to their interactions, jokes, and insults thrown back and forth good-naturedly. Rukia got to tell him what the entertainment complex was going to be like, with its traditional theatres and cabaret clubs, it was decidedly going to be the light of the district. Renji even got to joke about how surreal it was for the Kuchiki family to do any sort of business other than official duties mandated by the royal family. To that Rukia sniped, "well we didn't get all this from archiving Soul Society's history, that's for sure," gesturing to the entire Kuchiki wealth.

Coming up to the topic of the apartments being turned into an entertainment complex of some sort, Renji wondered what would happen to the residences that lived there. Sure it was the more uptown district with mostly wealthy merchants and government officers, which was why Renji chose to live there in the first place, as a high-ranking officer himself. But surely they would experience some sort of loss by being forcefully evicted like that. He voiced his thoughts to Rukia, to which she replied, "nii-sama said they are all heftily compensated," her wordings vague, as if she either was hiding something or it was exactly what the Kuchiki Head told her, which was not at all surprising.

"Compensated, huh," Renji mumbled the words. He wondered what kind of compensation his captain was talking about, but that was just to distract himself from the root cause of his agitation. The thought that Kuchiki Byakuya could cause all these inconveniences to all those people just to manipulate this outcome sickened Renji.

He blurted an excuse that he wanted to meditate, just so that Rukia could leave him alone to his musing—perhaps talking to _Zabimaru_ could release some of his more distressing thoughts. Rukia, sensing her friend's disconcert coming back once again, assent quietly and left the redhead alone, reminding him to come to dinner in a few hours. Closing the _shoji _to Renji's room softly, she set to a brisk pace.

She had a brother to confront.

* * *

"_What's got your panties in a twist, Renji?" a gruff voice called, coming from a large white baboon crouching in front of Renji. A white snake coiled on the shoulder of the creature, it's long body disappeared behind the baboon's back, connected as if as a tail. _

"_Zabimaru..." Renji voiced quietly, slumping down on a large rock, "it's my Captain," he sighed. _

_He was in his inner world, a golden terrain barren of all things except rocks and cliffs. Zabimaru stood in front of him, both their heads cocked to the side as they watched their wielder closed his eyes. _

"_You know he's only doing what he's doing because he thought it was the best thing to do?" the baboon reasoned, following the snake's urging to come closer to the redhead. Renji opened his eyes and smiled tiredly, stroking the black markings on the baboon's hide—the inspiration to his tattoo design. _

"_Of course. of _course_, he's doing this because it's the best thing to do..." Renji sighed out loud, grumbling, "it's just that he, he should have been more considerate."_

"_That's just how he's raised, though, don't you think?" the snake snorted, it's long body held high as if looking down on Renji, "He'd do stuff that he thinks is the best, regardless what anyone else thinks. And he gets what he wants, he's a born and raised noble, after all."_

"_True," Renji huffed out, "still a stickler for rules though."_

"_Rules that don't _hinder_ him," the snake pointed, "rules that, so far, has been in line with his own."_

_That left Renji thinking. It was true, since realizing that his sister's life was worth more than sticking to the law that was about to kill her, there was really nothing that held his captain back against the rules and laws of Soul Society. He's a strict rule follower, but not because he's incapable of doing anything about it, but because he simply prefers order than chaos. Ever since the incident with Rukia, let's just say that Renji had the utmost confidence that his captain would do _anything_ to make sure his sister won't get hurt, _ever.

"_The minute your military goes against that..." the snake continued, "well, they're making him their enemy too." Renji shuddered at the thought of his captain being the enemy, memories of fighting him in the past resurfacing in his mind. It was a very definitive moment in Renji's life, to go against the man that he always respected and admired, the man he's always been striving to surpass, and to be horribly defeated. He was just glad that the Kuchiki was on their side. _

"_You make him sound like a bad person, Hebi," Renji muttered. _

_The snake, Hebi, slithered to rest on Renji's lap, the baboon also followed to rest beside Renji, on which Renji immediately sink his body. "Yeah, well. Truth is, he and a handful of your captain-level shinigami can overthrow Seireitei overnight if they have the right incentives," the snake spoke again, the baboon besides Renji grunted in agreement, "especially your captain and that spiky head giant. Monsters, the lot of them."_

"_What, you don't think we can overthrow Seireitei ourselves?" Renji challenged playfully. _

"_Give me a break, Renji. You may look like a hothead, but you got heart as big as a mountain," Hebi hissed incredulously if he was a man Renji was sure he would roll his eyes. With his head slithered along the redhead's jawline, Hebi continued, "ain't no way you gonna do 'overthrowing' stuff anytime soon, or at _all_, for that matter."_

_Lips jutted in an almost pout, the redhead shoved the snake away from his indignant face. "O-kay, I'll just take that first part as my compliment."_

_The baboon rose and nudged his side, finally taking his turn to speak to his wielder. "Look, kid. He's wrong, yes, for doing what he did without asking your permission in the matter. I get it, I agree with you fully on that," he grunted out with his garish, gruff voice, looking at Renji's eyes with similar brown orbs. _

"_But try to keep an open mind, won't you? I'm saying this because I know you're thinking it, Ren. Our thoughts are yours, only spit out right in your face, you get me?" Hebi joined in, "_he_ doesn't _know _any other way. He's like a machine, he does things the way he was taught. It's a bit sick, but that's just what nobilities do to their brats, they all have this sort of 'standardized' stuff, and the rest are their personality, which, in your captain's case, is not helping him any." _

_The baboon made a deep guttural sound, nodding his head. "That's why you're his partner. You teach him the other ways," he said, his gruff voice reverberating through Renji's skin that came in contact with the baboon's large body. _

"_You're right, Saru, Hebi... thanks," Renji smiled lopsidedly. _

_He exhaled loudly from his mouth, standing up. "I'll try."_

"_And Ren?" Saru called as the redhead closed his eyes to concentrate on leaving his inner world, making the redhead once again cracked his eyes open, a questioning look on his face. _

"_He's right, you know," Hebi muttered, flashing the image of Kuchiki Byakuya in Renji's head. _

"_About what?" _

"_That man in your dreams..."_

_Renji frowned at that. It was the first time Zabimaru said anything about the incident, they had been awfully quiet on the matter. "How do you know?"_

"_I've had this uneasy feeling, right here," Saru thumped his large arm to his chest softly, the white snake nodded in kind, "since that first day of your sleepwalking incident."_

"_It got worse that night," Hebi hissed, coiling around Saru as if in comfort. He was talking about the night Renji almost plummeted to his death by the cliffside if not for his captain._

"_Something's coming, Renji," Saru warned, "we don't know what it is,"_

"_But we don't like how it feels." _

* * *

"Nii-sama."

"Rukia."

The smaller raven jumped, nervousness coming to her full force. "I—I mean no disrespect, nii-sama, you know that I respect you the most, well, along with Captain Ukita—"

Byakuya cut her before she rambled on even more, "speak your mind, Rukia."

Sensing the impatience in her brother's voice, the younger Kuchiki straightened herself. "Yes. Yes, of course. I'm sorry to ramble, nii-sama," she apologized with a short bow.

They were both sitting in Byakuya's calligraphy room, the one he had not left ever since the arrival and departure of both her and Renji. He was now in the middle of remaking the previous calligraphy that was ruined due to a certain... lack of control. By a certain redhead. When Rukia once again appeared before him.

She hesitated, not knowing the right words to convey what she was thinking, "I think that..."

Inhaling deeply and bracing herself, Rukia managed to look into her brother's eyes that were set on her the moment she arrived. "I think you owe Renji an apology."

If the statement caught the older Kuchiki off-guard, he didn't show it past the slight twitch of the brush in his right hand.

"How did you come to such a conclusion, little sister?" he inquired, returning his eyes to the intertwining brush strokes he had laid down on the scroll in front of him.

"Nii-sama, it's clearly upsetting him to be... to be 'manhandled' like this." Byakuya eyed her, intrigued but not showing it obviously, he inclined for the other raven to go on.

"I don't know what's going on," Rukia quickly continued, "but I know there's something that you're keeping away, _both_ of you. And I will not impose on that, believe me," she assured. She knew that her secretive brother wouldn't tell her anything, anyway. At least until he deemed it was necessary.

She took a deep breath and exhaled just as loudly before continuing her narration, "it's just that... Our lives in Rukongai, It's not exactly where we get the luxury of a choice. We were constantly forced to do things due to the unforgiving circumstances, Renji, most of all. He was always so... accommodating to us," she voiced softly, reminiscing the old days with their friends back in Inuzuri, "we, and ultimately myself, could only manage to live a bearable life because he went out on his way to make it so." Rukia looked up at her brother as she said it, conveying her thoughts earnestly to try to make him see why the redhead was so upset, that she would be too if it was her.

Hearing his little sister, Byakuya's curiosity on her and his lieutenant's past in Rukongai was piqued. He never questioned it for he never needed to. But now, with the situation the redhead—and himself—was in, he couldn't help but want to know more about the redhead's past. As loud-mouthed as he was, Renji was always so tight-lipped when it comes to his past in _Inuzuri_, using evasive tactics to steer conversations away from it, be it with his friends or with Byakuya—who, to be fair, never really was interested in any of it. Until now. What did she mean by 'accommodating', what did the redhead do to make her say so? Byakuya couldn't help but furrowed his brows at that. It must've not been a pleasant story to tell, by the sound of it alone. Perhaps he would divulge Byakuya in the long-overdue story, if he would find it in his heart to forgive Byakuya before that... He was proud that his sister came and read his mind, because he was, indeed, thinking of a way to make amends with the redhead. But he didn't expect her to be this bold, as to reprimand him about it, no matter how polite of a tone she used.

"And he respects you, nii-sama, for every decision you make," the younger Kuchiki frowned as she further explained her cause. "Even before, he... he tried to be understanding, didn't he? Whatever it was the excuse you gave him," she guessed, looking imploringly at her brother. Byakuya had to resist looking away as she said it, knowing that she was right.

It was _he_ who was so dismissive of the matter, even after sensing how much it upset the redhead, how much it meant for him. Not the act, but the notion behind it. _His manipulation of those surrounding him. _Sure, it was all with good intention—however questionable it was—in mind. But he might as well be Aizen, the thought of which he had to suppress the shudder threatening to run down his spine. Let alone the fact that Renji was once Aizen's subordinate, however good of an actor that traitor was. Byakuya knew how Renji grew sick just thinking about being that man's subordinate once, following his orders, fearing that some of the errands he did might play a part in Aizen's masterplan. And Byakuya might just remind the redhead on that ugly memory.

Rukia's last words put the final nail in the coffin for him. "I just think that you shouldn't take that for granted."

After her long speech, the last wind of bravery to stand up to her brother left her, leaving her stuttering in nervousness once again. "That's all that I have to say, so..." she trailed off, panicky eyes shifting between her brother's still form and the nearest exit.

"...thank you, Rukia."

She froze. "Nii-sama?" she queried slowly, unsure if she heard him right or it was just her imagination that told her that _Kuchiki Byakuya just thanked her._

Byakuya's eyes soften, something that he was only comfortable doing when there was only his adoptive sister in the vicinity. While he was having trouble conveying his thoughts, let alone gratitude towards others, just seeing the face that looks so much like his late wife Hisana melted his icy cold demeanor. He was gratified to have her around to ground him.

"I will endeavor to remedy this... situation."

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair. The three residents of the Kuchiki Manor dug into their meal laid out in the large table silently. While tension was nowhere to be seen, awkwardness settled, making it hard for anyone to start any form of conversation. Rukia certainly tried, but the half grunts and monosyllabic answers were enough to put a stopper to her attempts.

Renji distractedly thought that the cooks might be able to teach him some new recipes, given his... stay, there. Rukia kept glancing back and forth at him and her brother, looking pointedly at the raven-haired noble but failing to catch his attention. She almost wanted to slam her fists to the table, when Renji stood up with his finished dishes. A servant quickly took the dirty dishes from his hands, leaving him dumbfounded. Right, they have servants that do things for them. Muttering a short 'thanks' and excusing himself from the room, Renji left the two Kuchikis to their thoughts.

He was just entering the hall where his room was located, facing the breath-taking garden with the cherry blossom tree and koi pond, when he saw his captain standing in front of his path. He must've used flash steps to get there so fast, Renji mused.

"Captain," he greeted, turning his eyes away to face the garden. Somehow he felt the awkwardness seeping into his bones. His anger from the afternoon was all but gone, thanks to his talk with _Zabimaru, _but now he felt sheepish for yelling and being entirely disrespectful towards his captain. Was he going to be punished?

The Kuchiki gestured for Renji to come closer to admire the beautiful night view of the garden. "We are currently off-duty, Abarai," he toned placidly, "there is no need for such formality."

"I guess..."

"Perhaps we can come to a mutual agreement on the names we shall call each other while off-duty," Byakuya remarked thoughtfully, and hesitantly continued, "seeing that we will be... deeply acquainted due to the circumstances."

"And truthfully, that is what I've come for," the raven faced Renji, his slate grey orbs boring deep into Renji's, he would even dare to say that he almost saw the remorse in his eyes.

"Captain?"

"You may call me by my name," the Kuchiki offered amiably.

Feeling strangely flustered, Renji stuttered out incorrigible words until he finally settled. "Uh... Kuchiki-san?" he blurted out.

Just thinking about calling his captain by his given name made his brain go mushy, he wouldn't dare. Sure there were many 'Byakuya' out there, heck the man in his dreams was another 'Byakuya'. But it was the _person, _not the name in itself that made Renji felt undeserving. It was too casual, too _affectionate_ than what he was comfortable with giving to his captain. For now.

Byakuya's mouth twitched, barely able to hold in an amused smile at his lieutenant's endearing response.

"I've come to apologize," he straightened up, reminding himself of what he was there for, minutely distracted by the other-worldly glow the flustered redhead emitted, enhanced by the beauty of the moonlight and cherry blossom garden in the background, like a deity. It felt right, _justified_, for him to do what he was going to do. He tipped his head, and his whole upper body followed down to a steep degree, facing the wooden boards that made up the flooring of the walkway.

Watching as his captain, the noble, the Head of the Kuchiki Family demonstrating a perfect 90-degree bow in front of him, Renji's eyes widen in horror. "Wait—whoa! No need for that," he scrambled to straighten his captain's back, not wanting to see any second longer of the inappropriate act.

"It is only natural," Byakuya insisted, not understanding the redhead's refusal of his apology—but not minding the hands touching his shoulders. "I have severely torn your trust."

"That's... a bit much," Renji muttered, as he made sure his captain wouldn't venture to do any more 'wild' acts for the night.

"Look, uh, Kuchiki-san..." he stuttered on the name, "I understand why you did what you did, and I know how... err," _how you were raised to be a stuck up noble not understanding boundaries but I can't say that can I?_

"The point is!" he raised his voice to made up for his nervousness, "the point is, I get it. And I agree, to some level, that this may be the best course of action. For now," he looked at his captain for his assent. Seeing the—hesitant—nod, he sighed in relief.

"Just... Just promise me you'll tell me before you do something that will affect my life—any anyone's—going forward?"

Byakuya inclined his head, "you have my word, Abarai."

"You can call me Renji," the redhead let out awkwardly, brushing his loose red hair over his shoulder. "Abarai is... it's a made-up name. I was always just Renji," he explained shyly. He didn't know why he was telling his captain this. Most of his friends that only knew him after his admission to the academy didn't know he didn't have a last name, heck, only Rukia knew that. They were the same after all. While Rukia only took the name Kuchiki after she was adopted, Renji sought a last name way before that. Embarrassingly, the name he got was from the name of a souvenir shop in _Inuzuri_ that he found was now closed down. But no one needed to know that.

Hearing this, Byakuya couldn't help the smile tugging on his lips, the redhead gaped in surprise. It was the first time Renji truly see a _smile_ on his captain's normally stoic expression. It really softened up the noble's sharp looks and somehow made him so much more approachable.

"Renji, then."

The redhead felt his face grew hot.

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

_Kaki no tane: _crescent-shaped _senbei _pieces, popular in Japan to accompany beverages.

_Hebi: _the snake part of _Zabimaru_. The name was used during the_ Zanpakuto _Rebellion arc when Hebi takes a humanoid form of a boy. I stick to it because it's logical for _Zabimaru_ to have individual names—nicknames, at the very least.

_Saru: _the baboon part of _Zabimaru_. Same explanation here_. _

_Renji's last name: _no excuse for this, I made that up. But if you think about it, what was Rukia's last name before being adopted, hm? They were all from the same time period, I just take the liberty to 'enrich' the historical facts, is all. _sorry._

If there is anything that you don't know or understand that I missed to explain here please tell me :)


	6. Chapter 6 - Undercurrent

Chapter 6 – Undercurrents

* * *

It was the first day of the week after the joint-training with the First Division's new recruits, the first day of work for the new recruits. It was just after work hours at the Sixth's and some of the new shinigami were lounging around the hallways when they saw their lieutenant walking by—probably just finished with his tasks for the day.

"Lieutenant Abarai!" they greeted enthusiastically, but paused when they see the man beside the redhead. "Oh, and uh... Captain Kuchiki, sir!" they each hastily bowed lowly at the man. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at their bowed forms as he and his lieutenant walked by.

Renji nodded at the excited recruits and grinned as he waved them by. "Yeah. Keep working hard, you guys."

They straightened up as they watched the captain and the lieutenant passed them and went to the entrance of the barracks, confusion in their minds as to why the redhead was not going back to his quarters in the barracks—since they were informed the lieutenant stayed there on workdays. As it were their first day, they didn't put much thought into it, but boy did all the senior officers looked at the retreating duo as if they both grew a second head.

Rikichi was the last person to stop the pair on their way out of the Sixth's compound, hesitating when he saw the intimidating look on his captain's eyes. "Renji-san, you aren't going to your quarters?" the timid shinigami asked after he greeted and bowed to the two highest-ranking officers. Kuchiki Byakuya looked as if he would rather be anywhere else but there, and he focused all his disdainful thoughts on the one _deathly_ stare he aimed at the slighter raven that seemed to tear through the mind and ripped out one's worst fears and show it to one's face.

Renji, unaware—or chose to not acknowledge—his captain's decidedly 'sour' mood, gave his young mentee a reluctant shrug. "Uh...no," he answered vaguely with a sheepish grin and walked by as naturally as he could after saying his goodbye to the younger shinigami to not garner more confusion from the younger man. Byakuya, on his most gracious behalf, did not make any fuss on the matter and simply followed his lieutenant out of the compound while pinning Rikichi on the spot with his looming gaze.

The walk to Kuchiki Manor was silent—and awkward, mostly on Renji's side. He obviously noticed all the confused stares he—and his captain—had been getting from their subordinates. If he just walked out of the barracks on his own, fine, they knew he would probably be out for a drink with his friends. But with his captain in tow? That was a rare sight, because no one truly believed that Kuchiki Byakuya would accept Renji's invitation on his nightly excursion—much less actually following the redhead on said excursion. _Man, would they be even more surprised to not find me walking out of my quarters back in the barracks tomorrow_, Renji thought rather grimly.

Sensing his lieutenant's anxiety—he was quite adept at detecting lies, after all, he would know if someone's looking other than 'normal', as insensitive as he was when it comes to the actual handling—the Kuchiki cleared his throat. "Give them time, Lieutenant," he assured. _They would not dare to voice anything with me there, after all, _he smugly mused.

"Yeah," Renji sighed loudly. for half a second he marveled at how his captain knew what he was thinking, but dismissed the thought as the manor came in sight.

* * *

After about one month since his first moving into the Kuchiki Manor, all debacles aside, Renji found himself mostly lounging in his room or by the garden when he had no work to do. He didn't venture much into the slopes and corners of the manor, for he still felt it was not appropriate to do given the hosts never really gave him a proper tour. Then again, he rarely ever saw Rukia in his spare time, their schedule either got in the way or she was just in the other end of the manor, not actively seeking him out as often as he wished she would. She had her own life, he justified, but still complained about it to the raven herself whenever she made time to hang out with him, to which she rolled her eyes and mocked him for his melodrama. As for the older Kuchiki, well, let's just say Renji hadn't yet felt comfortable addressing the man in a casual setting.

At least he got to meet and talk with the cooks, being taught recipes and new cooking techniques, the kitchens being the only other place he visited other than the calligraphy club room that his captain had arranged for the club's weekly meeting—but that was a weekly thing, so he didn't bother to loiter around in the otherwise empty room. Of course, there was the dining room—but that was self-explanatory.

Thus Renji settled in comfortably, albeit awkwardly, in the Kuchiki Manor, along with its other two residents and staff. What shocked him most was exactly that, permanent residents—besides the staff—were actually just the three of them, he even had the initial nervousness of meeting the rest of the 'family', to find out they weren't there. He remembered that his captain had a grandfather, and surely he had other family members, but it was funny to him that they didn't live in the manor together. Rukia told him that the branch families live in their own mansions, while Ginrei Kuchiki—her adoptive grandparent—lived mostly in the outskirts of Seireitei, preferring to be out of the hustle and bustle in his old age. Renji deemed it was simply nobility's warped logic and leave it at that.

What really got on his nerves was how accurate his captain's dreaded promise was when he said to have Renji under 'constant supervision'—the man literally _escorted_ him wherever and whenever he went outside of the Manor and the Sixth's compound, making certain missions more complicated and less in his element since he had to accommodate to another person—let alone the infamous Captain Kuchiki. If the Kuchiki Head was not there, then at least two Kuchiki guards were sent in his place to monitor every single thing Renji did. While he appreciated the efforts and tried to understand the reasoning, he really couldn't wrap his head around how surreal it was, and he even tried—and failed—to escape the captain—absolute failure—and/or the guards, to no avail. The Kuchiki even threatened—implied, really, but _still_—to lock Renji inside the basement—_dungeons, _his delirious mind supplied—if he ever tried to 'escape' again.

So far, his closest friends had been in the know about his situation with the apartment complex being repurposed and tried to cheer him up by visiting him on weekends—he was only glad that his captain allowed the rowdy group to enter the premises, but the noble usually steered far away from their group whenever they visited, anyway. They still didn't know the real reason, and still threw the occasional speculations as to why he said that he wouldn't be able to join their drinking sessions anymore unless done at the Kuchiki Manor, but he tried his best to keep a tight lip. Shuuhei had his suspicions, but didn't know where to throw his assumptions just yet.

Ichigo visited twice more in that month to report updates on the Arrancar activities. He said that initially, the numbers of Arrancars in the forest perimeter of Karakura Town had tripled in the past few weeks, and then around a week ago, they weren't sighted anymore, other than the occasional normal Hollows.

Around two days passed after his report, suddenly more and more reports of Arrancars sightings in Soul Society were delivered; again, not near the human-populated areas, but abandoned districts and forests. The Captain-Commander had to call a joint meeting with the Captains and Lieutenants, as well as the Twelfth Division's team of researchers whose duties were to monitor Hollow activities in Soul Society. They all came to Byakuya's initial hypothesis, that Aizen Sousuke was most likely searching for some sort of spiritual artifact, from the officers' reports and the researchers' affirmation on the sightings of Arrancars sniffing around abandoned spiritual sites.

"They're expanding their reach," Kyoraku Shinsui hummed as he looked at the map of Soul Society, spread on a vast table in the middle of the Captain's meeting room which was usually bare. Blinking red dots clustered on certain sites that bear a simple shrine symbol all across the map. At first, the red dots were shown on a very small area of the map, but as a researcher pressed some buttons on a portable device, the red dots started to scatter outside and grew many, littering the map with their blinking lights.

"At least 197 Arrancar sightings had been reported in these regions, expanding every three days. They are usually spotted in pairs or groups of three. 46 of those sightings ended up with shinigami confrontation and a total of 12 casualties and counting. None of them seemed to engage if not threatened," a researcher reported, pushing his spectacles up his nose as he re-checked the data he had on his clipboard.

"This looks more and more like a war map," Renji muttered as he took a look at the map, noting the many locations he was familiar with, did a double-take on a particular location where there was no shrine symbol but still had clusters of red dots on them. It was near _Inuzuri_—and for a split second, he mused that it was really close to the cliffside where he trained the new recruits just a month ago.

"That is because we are getting closer to having one," the Captain-Commander's voice was grim. No one seemed to be paying much attention to his direction since they were busy looking at the map—some of them hummed in agreement, but Renji looked at the ancient man standing in the front and middle of the group. The Captain-Commander looked weary—as if his age decided to settle on his body now more than ever— and as he noticed the Sixth Division's lieutenant eyes to his direction, he shifted ever so slightly and motioned for the researchers' to continue their reports.

* * *

Byakuya has been taking more absences in the Sixth's barracks for the past week. While he still delivered his share of the paperwork in time, he rarely showed up to his office. This little fact surprised every single one of his officers, for Byakuya was never absent from office outside of urgent matters; he didn't even give any proper excuse for his absence this time. And they weren't brave enough to ask him why. Renji dared, being who he was, but only met with silence and cryptic responses that were as clear as a cloudy day.

It confused Renji because he thought the captain was so keen on monitoring him 24/7, that the man actually would take drastic measures to do so—and then he just gave Renji more 'room' than he ever had for the past month. He was somewhat gleefully delighted by his newfound 'freedom', if not for the fact that the Kuchiki actually put two more guards—so that's _four_ of them—that monitored him stealthily. He felt like a Yakuza heir from some anime series he often watched in Ichigo's house, being treated as he was.

There were still no new incidents with Renji so far. But Byakuya grew his suspicions on the connection between the Arrancar sightings and Renji's incidents. Renji was not the only one to notice the location of the Arrancars that were near the cliffside—the one where Renji said the mysterious red-eyed man told him that he was 'born of that cliff'. That really needed his further investigation, now, didn't it? Especially for the fact that while it wasn't the location of a holy shrine and the likes, it was one of the Kuchiki Family underground archives that held ancient scrolls older than the Captain-Commander himself. They just made the matter personal to him.

The captain was on his way to exit the Kuchiki compounds when his red-haired lieutenant stopped him.

"Captain, you're not going to the office today?" the redhead asked as casually as he could. He was dressed in his black uniform ready to leave for office—trailed by four guards watching somewhere he couldn't see but still be able to feel— and absently noting that the captain was _not_.

The Kuchiki noble gave Renji a curt nod, "yes."

"May I ask why you've been absent?"

"You may not."

Renji stood still for a few seconds as the Kuchiki flash-stepped out of his sight.

"Good talk."

* * *

In truth, Byakuya had taken into himself to explore the older, more ancient archives that the Kuchiki Family was responsible for keeping. The Kuchiki archives were spread out across Soul Society, some of them were located in strongholds during the warring eras millennia ago, while some buried underground long before Soul Society even gained its name, when it was simply fractals of the civilization it was now.

Even as the Head of the Kuchiki Family, the only nobility trusted to archive Soul Society history, Byakuya had never set foot into the more ancient archives—they were deemed irrelevant to current affairs and had never been explored by the more recent generations since their abandonment—though heavily layered and lethal seals were still active in case enemies trying to steal the olden wisdom the scrolls provide, as what Aizen was doing.

Byakuya believed that the genocidal insanity they call Aizen Sousuke was searching high and low for an artifact very well hidden in the nooks of Soul Society, but the raven knew not what it was. What drew his attention was the fact that the Hollows were diversifying their search; they didn't only search areas with holy grounds or known spots of spiritual fluctuations due to their history, but they were also searching sites that had even the slightest anomaly—that traitor didn't spare any effort on this, therefore he must be _desperate_. So far he hadn't found anything of use from the archives he had explored the past few weeks, which made him grew more frustrated by the day since it meant that his absence in his barracks and in monitoring his lieutenant was simply for naught. But he believed that the last Captain-Lieutenant meeting proved to be a significant clue for him, as he found another location of one of the older underground archives, and it had been hiding in plain sight.

Which was why Byakuya was currently standing in front of seemingly dense foliage, quite near to the cliffside—the location of one of the Kuchiki Family underground archives. The site was heavily sealed and enchanted with illusionary and protective spells, quite well that the Arrancars that were sighted near the area—and swiftly eliminated as Byakuya stepped into their periphery—couldn't detect the hidden site. As it was the Kuchiki Family archive, only Byakuya—and a few trusted members of the family—as the clan leader, could safely disable all the protective measure just enough for him to get through, the spells erected back in place the moment he went inside—the ingenuity of the past couldn't stop baffling even himself.

As he stepped through the barrier, and down the entrance, he had to wrinkle his nose—the air was terribly stale and did nothing to invite him further into the caves. He steeled his nerves and willed his senses to endure as he trudged through the densely packed rotten leaves from the foliage by the hidden entrance, and hid the floorings for at least past his knuckles if he were to force his fingers through the yellowish-grey layer. As he walked deeper into the catacombs—lighting a torch hanging by the wall—the leaves thinned out and he reached a sandstone area with many caverns leading to different directions. He decided to choose one and started from there, finding a small hole barely enough for him to walk through without ducking his head. Inside was an archive of scrolls, packed into the stone walls with holes as shelves—this must've been the older archives, he thought absently and got to work.

He spent hours rifling through the ancient scrolls which were in good condition only due to the spells they were preserved within the catacombs. The moment they were brought out, they may very well turn to dust if the proper spells were not in place. So far he had gone through two of the five caverns, and so far he had not found anything worth noting—at least for the problem he was trying to answer at that moment. Most of these scrolls were older than the time before the Kuchiki Family was established, long before the warring era thousands of years ago.

At the third archive—the one with the more recent, still ancient, but more recent than the last two archives—, after going through at least half of the scrolls, he found a small section in the dusty shelves that held scrolls with a different colored wooden rod. As he inspected them, he realized that they were probably from the last war at least two thousand years ago, when they used a different type of redwood to hold the scrolls, and had been carried on since then. _Progress_, he thought almost jubilantly as he nearly tore through the tie that held one of the scrolls in place, gleeful excitement—mixed with delirious fatigue and a dash of curiosity—reverberating through his fingers as he hungrily scanned through the text.

As he read through the scroll his eyes grew increasingly frantic and confused and as he looked to the end of the scroll to see the signature, his grip tightened.

* * *

'_...it was the holy divinity, the _Seika_, that guided me and blessed me with its holy powers. Even so, the enemy was far too strong, and I too weak to measure to the _Seika's_ unfathomable gift. I could not eliminate the evil, thus resorted to contain it. What terrible future have I gifted to the world, when I mayhap so be still alive when it struck once more, given this powers bestowed upon me that prolonged my vitality, yet be so powerless? I established the Gotei 13 as a defense mechanism against enemies who wish for chaos and death, yet they too would not survive for long, not without the _Seika's _gifts__. And while it will forever remain as long as evil persevere, but who will wield its powers? Who will be strong enough to bear its terrible blessings and achieve heights of greatness it should have brought me? I have failed, and I fear the day that evil may take its powers from the pure souls, and obliterate both souls and men alike...'_

"..for the _Seika_ with all its sentience and divinity is a lure for all evils to come," Byakuya murmured the last line of the last passage, his fingers absently stroke through the soft material of the scroll he opened, grazing the glaringly familiar symbol of chrysanthemums at the end of the scroll, signed by the very man who made peace within Soul Society possible. He was sitting by the garden, his back rested on a wooden column that erected the roofs on his head.

"What are you reading, Cap—Kuchiki-san? Poetry?" a familiar loud voice asked the brooding raven. He rolled the delicate scroll close.

"Renji," he acknowledged the redhead lowly, his eyes boring into the redhead who grew more uncomfortable by the second. The raven just got back after, what, a whole day being MIA, and the moment he returned he secluded himself in his room. It was thankfully the last weekend of the month, so Renji was now looming over the noble who decided to grace the members of the manor with his presence in the garden—the one just outside his room, still, _progress_. But then he was busy looking at whatever it was that caused him to act so... clandestine. Even more so than usual.

Renji frowned, it was very unsettling to see how distracted the normally so vigilant noble was—it was as if he was _daydreaming_.

The captain abruptly stood up, the scroll held tightly in his hands, "Aizen is indeed searching for something," he stated decisively, looking at Renji with clear eyes—finally snapping out of his self-inflicted reverie, it seemed.

"What is it?" Renji queried, his brows still furrowed as he looked at his captain's shifty movements.

"I shall tighten security," the noble decided, and swiftly walked pass his lieutenant in a hurry.

"What—wait, Kuchiki-san!" Renji called as he strode along with his captain.

"Pardon me, Abarai, but I am needed elsewhere," the Kuchiki paused, looked at his lieutenant, and flash-stepped away. Renji looked at the empty spot where his captain used to be with incredulous anger. _The hell is going on with that guy?!_

"What's gotten into him?" a grating voice said a little too loudly next to his ear.

"Ichigo! What are you doing here? Again?" He exclaimed, jumping to see the grinning substitute shinigami behind him.

The orange-haired high schooler tapped his fist to an open palm as if reminded of his business in Soul Society. "Oh, yeah, now that you remind me, I actually needed the snob for something," he exclaimed, jumping away and flash-stepped out of the compound, "talk to you later, Ren!"

"Wait you damned Strawberry!" Renji shouted at the shinigami reappearing on top of the roof of the entrance, only to disappeared again, "Jeez, each and every single one of them," the redhead grumbled.

* * *

Byakuya was observed walking in an urgent but subdued manner across _Seireitei_ which was only beginning to glow a soft yellowish-orange, awaiting the setting sun. While flash-steps would take him faster to the location he wanted to go, the raven took the time to arrange his thoughts before he arrived at his destination.

As the noble paced through the nearly empty streets, someone called his name in the most obnoxious tone he ever heard—at least that was what he would say if ever asked. "Oi, Byakuya, wait up!"

He paused his steps and turned on his heels to face the offending individual. "Kurosaki Ichigo," he grunted impatiently.

As he caught up to the captain, Ichigo fumbled over his sleeves as if trying to find something. "Sorry, I gotta—wait a second here," he said sheepishly as he searched through the pockets of his uniform, and pulled out a piece of folded paper triumphantly. "I got these notes from Urahara-san, he's captured one of the Arrancars and interrogated it. Didn't get much outta that thing before it self-detonated," the younger man grimaced, "but he told me to deliver this to you, since you were the one who proposed that they might be searching for some kind of artifact?"

"He said they kept saying this one word..." he trailed off as he gave the paper to Byakuya, who received it silently.

"Uh, I haven't read the notes so I forgot what Urahara-san said it was," the orange-haired shinigami mumbled as he watched the captain eyed the paper in contemplation.

"Seka? Saiko?"

Byakuya paused in reading the note given to him, he frowned distastefully at the grim realization.

"_Seika_."

Urahara must have known the significance of that piece of information that he decided to trust Byakuya to look further into it. He didn't know that Byakuya already did. Thus Byakuya didn't even bother reading the rest of the message.

"Oh yeah that's it, you read it fast!" Ichigo exclaimed, and continued by asking "you know what it is?"

"I am about to."

* * *

"Byakuya-dono," Kuchiki Ginrei greeted his grandson as he kneeled on the opposite side of the room, a servant offering tea to the visiting Head of the House.

Byakuya responded in kind and nodded to the servant as she bowed to excuse herself from the tranquil room. He pulled out the scroll he had been reading and keeping with him since his discovery of its rather perplexing content, and presented it quietly to his grandfather's eyes.

Ginrei was silent as he noted the scroll, but chose to ignore it for a moment longer to sip his tea.

"You went to the archives," he stated more than questioned, as he put his delicate teacup down.

"Indeed, grandfather," Byakuya affirmed just as astutely, still presenting the scroll as if urging the older man to immediately address his offering at once.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" the older Kuchiki prompted instead, idly eyeing the scroll, knowing that the young Lord _did_ find something, and knowing where the conversation was heading. _He_ had been waiting for this moment.

"I must say it is not as I expected," Byakuya voiced, pushing the scroll—_delicately —_to his grandfather's reach. "Did you know about this?" judging by the flitting recognition in the elder Kuchiki's eyes when Byakuya showed the object, Ginrei did not just know of the scroll, he knew of the answers that Byakuya seek; it was one of many scrolls that looked similar on the outside, after all. He must have known that Byakuya would be coming to him someday. And that day had come.

Ginrei took the scroll and opened it, stroking the edges of the soft, worn paper as he read the content that he had read hundreds of times before that he already memorized it at the top of his head, even after so long.

"My late grandfather fought alongside him, my boy," the older gentleman answered, his eyes still gazing fondly at the scroll clutched in his wrinkled hands, "he told me all that he could remember."

"More than the scrolls could provide?"

"There are some... _details_, that was purposefully left out in the writings," the former Kuchiki Head conveyed delicately, looking at his grandson as he gave the scroll back to the younger man. It did not belong to him.

"Then the _Seika_...?"

"Only the tip of the iceberg."

"Where is it now?" Byakuya frowned, tilting his head forward subconsciously, hungry for the first of the many answers he would wring out of the older Kuchiki.

"Not 'it', Byakuya-dono," Ginrei asserted, a glint in his eyes.

* * *

"_He_ will be _taken_ before the time _comes_," a deep, resonant voice grounded in restrained frustration.

Another sighed, having had the same conversation thousand times over. "when the time _does _come, _shōken_ will protect him. You have faith in it, don't you?"

"_Fine_."

* * *

\- _to be continued _-

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

_Seika_: lit. holy light; described by Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni in his account as what 'guided and blessed' him with 'its holy powers'; no further information is available.

_Shōken_: lit. ascension, power; 'it' seems to 'protect' someone; no further information is available.

*if you watched the Turn Back the Pendulum Arc, there's a moment between Ginrei and Byakuya when he called Byakuya simply by his name, and Byakuya, in turn, referred to Ginrei with a more 'fond' _jii-sama _(if you watched with subtitles instead of the English dub). However, in this chapter you see Ginrei referring to Byakuya with the '-dono' suffix. I feel that it is more appropriate that way because back then, Byakuya was a boy practicing _kendo _while his grandfather watches. Now, he's the head of their clan visiting the former head. It's simply different settings :) I imagine Byakuya would also refer to Ginrei with the more formal _Ojiisama _(if this is an anime lol) in this.

If there is anything that I missed or things that you don't understand, please let me know - but not things that are plot-related though xD


	7. Chapter 7 - Entrapment

Chapter 7 – Entrapment

* * *

"So what Aizen is searching for—what he made these Arrancars hunt—it's not an artifact... But it's a person," Hitsugaya Toshiro surmised slowly, his eyebrow rising by the second.

"It is as you reiterated," Kuchiki Byakuya supplied to the child prodigy, who in turn looked slightly disgruntled that the Kuchiki approved of what he said—a first. Then again, the noble looked different from his usual stoic self. He seemed unusually determined, and it looked like he knew exactly what he wanted out of the meeting they were having.

The Sixth Division's captain requested a joint meeting with the highest-ranking officers to the Captain-Commander just the day before. It was an urgent matter, he stated as he conveyed his request. Assuming that it was about Aizen, the elderly captain acquiesced to the sudden request.

Now, hearing the little bit of information that the Kuchiki Head managed to tell so far, the people in the room—understandably—wore various expressions of skepticism.

"How do you know about this?" Captain Soi-Fon questioned, eyeing the broody captain suspiciously.

"Ginrei Kuchiki. The 27th Head of the Kuchiki Family," Byakuya tilted his head, "and the previous Sixth Division captain."

"And how did _he_ know?" Zaraki Kenpachi, who had been dozing in the corner up until then, taunted the Kuchiki. Byakuya was about to open his mouth to deliver a lashing insult when someone entered the slightly open door.

"From my grandfather," Ginrei Kuchiki remarked, an amused glint in his eyes as he looked at the startled Eleventh Division's captain. Kenpachi—and the rest of the room— didn't expect anyone to enter, much less the formidable and infamous former captain of the Sixth Division—not that he cared about any of that.

"Ginrei-dono!" the Captain-Commander said in barely concealed alarm, he stared in surprise at his former comrade. His deep-rooted suspicion of the whole meeting was now set in stone. If he didn't know for sure what was the reason for the meeting before, he now knew _exactly_ what was going to happen in the next hour. And he wasn't sure if he was ready for it.

"Excuse my interruption, Yamamoto-dono," Ginrei offered to the weary captain, his eyes deep-set in understanding—at least for the most part—of what the captain-Commander was thinking. "I think this matter has been waiting around for long enough." Captain Yamamoto remained silent at that.

"Pardon me, Ginrei-dono, but what is it that you're talking about?" Captain Ukitake uttered, and eyeing his respected Captain-Commander, he continued, "and pray tell why the Captain-Commander seems to be in the know about it too?"

"I will let Captain Kuchiki explain," Ginrei offered, nodding his head at his grandson to explain the information that they had to offer to the rest of the room.

Byakuya inclined and resumed his previously interrupted explanation. "We all know from history that the Gotei 13 was founded by Captain Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni nearly two-thousand years ago, at which point the warring era struck Soul Society for one thousand years to come," he paused. "At the very last war, the first generation of the Gotei 13 fought against an unidentified enemy—that I presume only the first generation of captains still in position today would know—and we learned that we won that war."

Zaraki Kenpachi groaned aloud, which made everyone shift their eyes to him. "Save the history lesson, Kuchiki, and just get to your point!"

"But the written history lied," Byakuya continued as if he didn't hear anything, "we didn't win that war. The enemy was not defeated, it was merely sealed away, too powerful to be completely eradicated. This scroll," he pulled out the well-worn scroll that he previously studied along with his grandfather, "narrated the actual event that took place at the last war. And the writer concluded that this 'enemy', whoever it was," he eyed the four senior captains in the room, "will return."

"Excuse my rudeness, Captain Kuchiki, but how is this relevant to the matter with Aizen?" Kyoraku Shinsui raised his hand politely, a seemingly permanent, lopsided lazy smile on his face. The others hummed in agreement, while Kenpachi was openly yawning in boredom, Lieutenant Yachiru snoozing on his left shoulder.

Yamamoto Genryuusai was increasingly tightening his grip on _Ryuujin Jakka_, but he didn't show much emotion in his purposefully blank expression.

Byakuya turned his head to Shunsui. "The scroll pertained that the enemy was immeasurably powerful, and only through a miracle that it can be subdued in the first place," he explained, "this 'miracle' was the _Seika_."

While the other captains and lieutenants in the room were awaiting him to continue his explanation, their eyes screaming 'what is _Seika_?', the senior captains looked at Byakuya with a hint of recognition at the name. Byakuya shifted his eyes slightly to where the Captain-Commander was standing. And as he expected, the commander of the Gotei 13 was gripping his disguised sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and his face was set on a tight, strained caricature of 'calm'.

Nevertheless, he continued his narration. "_He_ is a holy entity, and will remain for as long as the enemy, or as the scroll suggests, the 'evil' lives. The _Seika_ blesses an individual with insurmountable powers only constrained by the strength of their will. This 'gift' alone is a large scale threat of genocide if the Seika ever falls into the enemy's hands."

"Assuming that this... _Seika_ person is indeed real, how do you know that Aizen is aware of him?" Hisagi Shuuhei retaliated, his posture was that of excitement at discovering something that had a huge potential of being riddled with conspiracies. Who and where was the _Seika_ all this time? What were his actual abilities? How did he come to be? So many questions.

"His possession of the _Hogyōku _is a major factor of his knowledge. The orb possesses powers that even its creators could not fathom," Kurotsuchi Mayuri supplied offhandedly, his fingers stroking his protruding golden chin—a new modification on his synthetic body. This matter proved to be worth his time, after all. If they ever find the _Seika_—whatever _it_ was—he was surely going to get his hands on _it_ before anyone else did. He grew giddy with the thought of experimenting on _something_ as close to an actual _deity_ as anyone could ever get—the _Hogyōku_ would practically be _obsolete_.

Byakuya agreed reluctantly at the eccentric captain's response, finding himself almost shuddering at whatever it was that the other captain was thinking—what with his maniacal grin that showed all of his large, golden teeth that was widening by the second.

"...indeed. And the fact that he uses his Arrancars to hunt down areas near the Kuchiki archival sites is a clue as to what he was searching. He knew that the Kuchiki archives hold priceless information that could not be attained anywhere else. I assume that he was deliberately searching for these archives to gain a clue on the _Seika_ whereabout."

A certain redhead's hand shot up—being unusually silent for most of the meeting, most likely trying to digest the overload of information—and almost every single person in the room turned to him in question.

"Uh... I'm sorry to interrupt. But... you said that the _Seika_ helped to subdue this enemy that we fought in the last war, and that to do that it—_he_—blessed the individual," Abarai Renji paraphrased his captain's previous explanation roughly, and finding the approving nod from the noble, he continued. "Well, who was it? Maybe we can narrow down the search for this _Seika_ if we can find the one he 'blessed'?"

Byakuya accepted his lieutenant's logic and was about to reveal the one thing that he thought would shock most of the occupants in the room—except for a few people for obvious reasons.

He put the scroll that he had been holding loosely on the table in the middle of the room. "The same one who wrote this scroll," he supplied vaguely at first, then rolled the scroll open to reveal the signature at the end of the passages written.

Most of the people in the room gathered close to the table, trying to get a look at the scroll. Both Byakuya and Ginrei noticed that the Captain-Commander was still rooted on his spot, his stance as if bracing himself. The other senior captains gathered closer, but their expressions looked as if they knew what they were going to find—this, Byakuya had expected. They were tremendously good at keeping their mouth where they belong—for _one_ _millennium, _no less—and they wouldn't likely spill anything without the Captain-Commander's permission.

"What is it?"

"It's upside down, let me get to that side..."

"Stop pushing me, Matsumoto!"

"Chrysanthemums..." someone amidst the crowd muttered. Some sharp intake of breaths were heard all across the room.

"Captain-Commander?!" a beastly voice of one Captain Komamura pierced through the noise in the room. All the occupants of the meeting room turned their heads towards the front of the room, where the sole commander of Gotei 13 was left standing all alone.

Seeing the shock riddled faces of his officers, all awaiting his answer, Yamamoto let out the tightly held breath he had been keeping inside in one, loud exhale of breath. He reckoned that he would not be able to get away from this now. _Perhaps it _is_ time_, _after all_, he thought solemnly as he prepared himself to face the rest of the room.

"Yes," he began, looking at each of the expectant eyes in the room, "that individual was none other than me. I fought the last war, and the _Seika_ trusted his blessings upon me. The blessing which I failed to deliver," he sighed, frowning at remembering flashes of the gruesome memories of his last battle one millennium ago. It was truly a bloodshed. And he couldn't help but put all the blame on himself, carrying the burden of all their loss for centuries to come, because he was not strong enough.

He shook the thought from his head. Now was not the time for regrets and sentiments.

He straightened up and tapped _Ryujin Jakka_ lightly on the wooden flooring to silence the buzzing of disbelieving chatters in the room. "Aizen is indeed searching for the _Seika_."

"Do you know where he is now?" Renji once again voiced his question. That look on the Captain-Commander face was definitely not usual, the redhead mused as he felt a strange sensation from the deep gaze the commander aimed towards him, before straightening up again.

_The hell was that?_ Renji thought, shuddering.

"Only a handful of people know of the existence of the _Seika_. My oldest compatriots," Captain Yamamoto gestured to the senior captains, "were the only ones who knew of him, though barely. It was never my place to share this to the world, nor was it safe for me to do so."

"'For the Seika is a lure for all evils to come'," Byakuya mused aloud, making all the other occupants in the room look at him in question.

Yamamoto smiled wryly to himself. "Indeed, I wrote that in my last entry," he gestured to the scroll lying innocently on the table, "the more people who knew, the more risk may befall upon his existence."

He then straightened up his posture. "But no more," Yamamoto expressed strongly, "I know now that a more proactive measure is needed to ensure the _Seika'_s safety. Aizen is getting closer to the truth, and if we don't take action now, he would take the _Seika_ when we least expect him to."

Murmurs of agreement echoed throughout the room. If the _Seika_ was indeed still around, then they needed to protect him at all costs.

Inclining his head, Yamamoto continued, "the _Seika_... only the one who was blessed by his power could identify his existence amongst us."

"'Amongst us'?," Hitsugaya Toshiro started, "do you mean he is in this room, _with us_, right now?"

"Who is it, Captain-Commander?!" Komamura pressed, his fist thumping against the table, rattling its legs due to the force.

"He is still unaware of it himself, but I am afraid the time will be coming soon. The one that emits an other-worldly glow that only I can see," Yamamoto let out, his eyes shifting across the officers' faces. In one corner of the room, Kuchiki Byakuya's heart stuttered after hearing the Captain-Commander's words.

Everyone else held their breath in anticipation of the reveal.

"Lieutenant Abarai."

Renji snapped his head to the ancient commander, "yes, Sir?" he asked, wondering why did the Captain-Commander call him out of the blue in the middle of such an important reveal.

Pregnant silence ensued throughout the room. All eyes were drawn to the redhead.

Renji, under all the scrutinizing stare, took a staggering step back in self-defense. "Wha—what, why are you all looking at me?"

"It is him, Yamamoto-dono?" Kuchiki Ginrei inquired quietly, his mien somber.

Yamamoto took a shuddering breath. "Indeed, old friend."

Almost simultaneous gasps echoed in the meeting room and chaos ensued.

"Is this some sort of a joke?" Hisagi Shuuhei exclaimed vehemently, slamming his hands on the table.

"This is not funny, Captain-Commander!" Komamura shouted garishly, forgetting his self-proclaimed reverence to the oldest man in the room for a moment.

All manners of incredulous exclamations and shouts were thrown across the room. Some were arguing against the Captain-Commander, while others were justifying his more than sufficient knowledge to accept what he said as facts. Only the senior captains were quiet throughout the whole debacle, if not for their respect for their commander-in-chief, then for sympathy for the shell-shocked redhead who was only coming out of his stupor.

Renji silenced the room with another slam on the poor, abused table, and a shout, "Shut it!"

He paused to let the others compose themselves, and turned his eyes sharply on Yamamoto, "Captain-Commander, I respect you and all but this is serious! We need to act before Aizen finds what he's searching for!"

"You are right, Abarai. We must act."

A split second of relief flashed through his face as he thought—_yes maybe it was all just a sick joke there's no way that I'm_—but then movements in the shadows of the room revealed guards that immediately took the redhead's arms behind his back and restrained his body with a silent binding spell, all before he could even respond.

Eyes widening in horror, Renji immediately struggled against the effectively unbreakable binding. "What is—fucking let go of me! _Damn_ you—" he shouted, the fabric of his uniform arms squeezed impossibly tight as he tried to push the binds off his body.

Almost everyone in the room moved to help the hysterical lieutenant, but a murderous glare and a bellowing "**no**!" from the Captain-Commander stopped them in their tracks. They could only watch as the redhead struggled against the binding and the guards trying to subdue his movements entirely.

Unable to watch as his lieutenant was being forcibly taken—even by his commander—Kuchiki Byakuya took another step forward.

Seeing the movement from the corner of his eyes, Renji snapped his head to his captain. "Captain Kuchiki! Tell them to take these off! Tell me it's not true!" he screamed hoarsely as he tried to physically force the magic spell off his person, his face and neck flushed red as his blazing mane and his veins bulging against his skin with the force of his action.

But Byakuya stopped in his tracks. His eyes conflicted.

And the betrayed look in Renji's eyes was too much for him to bear.

He looked away.

"CAPTAIN!"

And then redhead dropped like a dead animal as another guard took his conscious away with a swift knock on his head.

He was taken quietly from the room.

"Is this the right thing to do...?" Ukitake Jushiro trailed off helplessly as he watched the once energetic lieutenant was taken out of the room.

Yamamoto drooped his head. "There was nothing else that we could do."

* * *

Loud thuds of footsteps echoed through the hall of the First Division's barracks as several shinigami tried to desperately keep up with a certain noble captain, demanding his answers.

Kuchiki Rukia struggled to stay next to her adoptive brother, even so much as to grasp his uniform sleeve.

"Nii-sama! Nii-sama please tell me it's not true!" she begged at her stone-cold brother, who never so much as to glance at her direction. It was like back to their first encounter with Ichigo all over again. Only this time, her brother was taking her oldest and dearest friend from her. She just couldn't grasp the idea. Rukia would rather they take her away over and over again than _this_.

Hisagi Shuuhei growled in frustration and jumped right in front of the captain's path. To hell with ranks and formality.

"Captain Kuchiki, with all due respect sir, but this is _not_ the way to do things," he ground out as he glared harshly at the impassive noble. He couldn't believe that he actually went _giddy_ for the thought of the _Seika_ existing when that person was his _kouhai_ all along. He felt sick. But it was worse that the redhead's captain, who he thought was warming up to his _kouhai_, would let something like that happened to him. Those faceless guards took Renji away as if he was some sort of a _criminal_, kicking and screaming. It was hard to watch.

Byakuya finally let out quietly, "it is the Captain-Commander's decision." He then side-stepped Shuuhei and flash-stepped away before any more people tried to stop him.

Rukia shouted at the spot where her brother used to stand, "Nii-sama!"

She screamed in frustration and ran to find her brother.

Shuuhei stood still, a frown on his brows. _That Kuchiki Byakuya... he was actually holding himself back when he said that_, he mused.

* * *

"Where will he be kept?" Ukitake Jushiro questioned as he took a less informal position in the bare meeting room—there were only him, Kyoraku Shunsui, and the Captain-Commander himself left.

"The _Muken_."

Shunsui shook his head. "We treated our only salvation like the vilest criminal," he mused sadly, and looked at his senior commander, "and Aizen will surely hear of this."

Yamamoto drew his lips to a sharp line. "It is the safest place to be."

* * *

Renji found his conscious back as he was being locked in some kind of a dark cell.

At first, his head was groggy, but when he heard the sound of metal keys clanking against metal, his eyes snapped open.

He tried to move but fell down as he tripped on something. Both his arms and legs were bound to each other with some kind of a _hado_ spell that he never saw before.

He shouted at the guards locking what looked like an incredibly complex system of locks, "get these things off me!"

His body jerked forward frantically as he watched the guards leaving, "hey, come back! Wait!" He tried to stand up, balancing his tightly bound feet as he shoved his body forward so he can grasp the bars with his equally bound hands for balance.

"This is NOT funny!" he shouted at the retreating guards. Showing no sign of stopping from the guards, he shoved his body as hard as he could against the bars and tried to rattle the cell to no avail. It was heavily enchanted.

Desperation crept into his voice as he shouted over and over again for someone to let him out.

"Please, please _please _just let me out!" He screamed as loudly as he could.

But there was no response.

And only then did he notice there was no light other than the flickering torch somewhere beyond his cell.

His voice grew hoarse as he looked around in barely contained fear. Fear of being kept there _forever_.

"_LET ME OUT!"_

* * *

_"You see what they did to him?" a man ground out, already on the precipice of bottomless rage as he was._

_"Tell me that you anticipated that," he hissed at another person near him._

_"It was all woven in the strings of fate," the other offered quietly, having nothing else to say. It was devastating, no matter how many times he foresaw it, to see the events unfold._

_"Shōken was supposed to protect him."_

_"It is," the other affirmed weakly. Then morosely added, "at least, that's what he thinks he's doing."_

* * *

"Renji."

Renji's head snapped up from his curled up position on the floor at his name being called.

"Capt—Kuchiki-san?" he scrambled close to the bars holding him in, careful to not trip over the binding on his feet, he was forced to take very short steps as to not fall over again.

The noble had an unreadable expression on his face, and Renji gripped the enforced bars tightly as the Kuchiki failed to look at him in the eyes. So he _was_ feeling the guilt, at the very least, Renji thought with cruel satisfaction.

"Kuchiki-san, tell them to let me go," he demanded to the other man strongly.

When the other didn't respond, he banged his fists against the metal bars as hard as he could, pain was the last thing on his mind right now.

"Kuchiki-san!" he shouted, desperation evident in his voice.

Byakuya inhaled sharply. "You will be safe here. For now." Yet he still couldn't find the nerve to look at his imprisoned lieutenant head-on. He knew that his words meant nothing other than convincing himself that it _was_ indeed the right thing to do.

Knowing that he would get nowhere in convincing his captain to let him out of the blasted cell, Renji slumped against the metal bars. "So I am... really...?" the damned _Seika_?

"Why can't I feel anything?" he tried to coax out of the silent raven.

Byakuya started. This, at least, he could give to the redhead. He owed him as much explanation.

"Your visions... My grandfather told me that the first time the Captain-Commander encountered the _Seika_, it was to a seemingly ordinary individual. They grew close and became inseparable friends. One day, that person received visions of a man with red eyes," Byakuya paused to receive the surprised recognition in his lieutenant's face.

It was exactly his face when he was first told the story by his grandfather just the day before. The Captain-Commander's revelation did not come out as a surprise to him, but it was still painful to see the betrayed look in his lieutenant's eyes. What was still on his mind, though, was why he could see the redhead's ethereal glow when the Captain-Commander said that only one that could was the one who received the _Seika's _blessing. He did not recall any encounter with the _Seika_ before in his life, and he was sure that he didn't receive any sort of 'gift' from him—he _would_ know.

He dismissed the musings for now and continued his narration, "as the war reached its peak, the _Seika _awakened and blessed the Captain-Commander with powers to defeat the enemy. Once the threat was sealed, and the war was over. The _Seika_ went into a deep sleep that no one could wake him from. Several weeks later, he was gone.

No one who knew the _Seika_ was before, knew where he went. But the Captain-Commander theorized that the _Seika_ simply got rid of his physical form to roam over the land until the time comes to resurface. He thought that the _Seika_ would come back in a new form that would lessen the threat of enemies identifying him."

"A burst of high-density _reishi_ was identified on the _Kiishi_ cliff 150 years ago," Byakuya informed, "the Captain-Commander knew it was the beginning of a new life for the rebirthed _Seika_," he finished softly.

Byakuya observed the expressions flitting through the redhead before him.

"...' you were born of this cliff'," Renji finally uttered.

He looked up. "... that's what he said—in my visions... so it was true?" he asked hesitantly, referring to the 'dreams' that he had, that he mentioned to his captain on that night.

Byakuya could only nod his head in silent confirmation.

"And the Captain-Commander knew who I was," the redhead stated matter-of-factly, "since the beginning."

Sensing where this was going, Byakuya slowly bobbed his head, again, in confirmation of the redhead's statement.

"_And he didn't say anything_, " Renji grounded out viciously.

"It was all to protect your identity," Byakuya insisted.

Renji furrowed his brows, huffing incredulously. "Well, now at least two dozens people _knew!_ How is that protecting my 'identity'?" he pressed in frustration, "Aizen will come running when he found out about this," the redhead finished with a threat-laden tone. If Aizen was indeed after him, and if he succeeds, then it was all the Gotei 13's fault.

"The _Muken_ is the most secure location in _Seireitei_." Renji sneered at that.

Seeing the doubtful action, Byakuya snapped his hand forward and grasped Renji's bound fists from between the metal bars, startling the redhead in question.

"It is for your protection," he finally looked at Renji in the eye, solemn determination in his glimmering dark orbs, promising severe retribution if anything were to happen to Renji under his watch.

"Everything has its flaws, Captain," Renji couldn't help but whisper coldly.

His voice echoed in the darkness that surrounded the two.

* * *

Ichimaru Gin smirked in amusement. "So... it's him."

He looked up to see the man sitting on the throne.

He smiled, arms resting on either side of the large throne. "Time to move."

* * *

**-** _to be continued _-

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

_Muken_: lit. Avici, the lowest level of Buddhist hell. The eighth and final level of Central Great Underground Prison in Seireitei. It belongs under the Central 46 jurisdictions, but after Aizen massacred them in his betrayal of Soul Society, the Captain-Commander assumed power. This is the place where the new Central 46 put Aizen in after his defeat in the canon storyline.

_Kiishi _cliff: lit. spirit, plummet. I just slapped a name in for the cliff that I always mention in this story, just to make it easier for me to write instead of having to refer back to the 'joint- training' program whenever I want to mention this cliff.


	8. Chapter 8 - Vignettes

Chapter 8 - Vignettes

* * *

"Kuchiki, you can't be here," Ukitake Jushiro pat his subordinate's shoulder, stilling her movements as she tried to get into the Captain-Commander's personal office.

He was just on his way to meet the elderly captain when he saw her briskly walking past him, seemingly not noticing his presence in her focus.

She swiftly turned around to face him in surprise, only then noticing his figure. He gave her a lopsided smile.

But she was having none of it. "Please, Captain, let me talk to the Captain-Commander!"

Jushiro sighed—he knew she was going to be relentless. "I sympathize with you. Really, I do," he tried to say soothingly, taking a somber tone, "it's hard on everybody."

Rukia could only look down. She knew it was hard on everyone, she saw their faces as they walked out of the meeting. She saw the angry look on Hisagi-san's face, and the shame as he told her what happened, unable to do anything. It was the least he could do.

But Renji wasn't just a friend. He was her _brother_, long before Kuchiki Byakuya was. He was her anchor and her confidant. He kept her head straight when all she wanted to do was to give up. It was _harder on her _than they would understand.

"I want to see him," she said quietly. "_Please_. Just once, let me see Renji," she begged as she gripped her captain's _haori_ tight, looking into his eyes to see any sort of loose string she could pull to unravel his resolve and help her see her dear redhead.

"You cannot."

"Captain-Commander!" Jushiro exclaimed in surprise. He didn't see the older captain coming, he thought he was already in his office.

Rukia was not surprised, however, as she was now more determined than ever to make the man do what she wanted him to do.

"You let my brother saw him yesterday!" she argued impudently, glaring at the most powerful man in Seireitei as if he was a mere old man.

Yamamoto loomed over her and sneered. "He was Lieutenant Abarai's supervising officer and the captain of his division. _You_ are neither," he nearly spat pettily, his mood unusually sour for a man of his temperament.

Rukia stood her ground and held her head high in a mock of bravado over her actual quivering mental nerves. "Then I will use my authority as a noble to bypass that!"

"Kuchiki, stop it at once!" Jushiro scolded his insolent subordinate. He understood her reasoning, but he wouldn't tolerate any more disrespectful tone from her to the Captain-Commander. His words fell on deaf ears, however, because she was still glaring at the Captain-Commander, who responded just as harshly.

"If you think that just because you were _adopted_ into the Kuchiki Household have any meaning to _me_, then you need to learn your place some more, _unseated officer Kuchiki_," Yamamoto lashed cruelly, his look of disgust far more painful than the sharp glares he threw at her.

He walked past her to get into his office, motioning Jushiro to follow him inside. Rukia was as still as a rock behind him. The white-haired captain was torn between consoling the obviously upset girl and risking to further irritate the commander.

He settled for a pat on her head. "Forgive him, Kuchiki," the gentle captain amended to his shocked subordinate, "he is..." he hesitated.

"It took a lot out of him," he finally said. It was not his place to tell the tales of the Captain-Commander's past, but he could at least convey that it was difficult for the commander to deliver his orders, even if it was a gross understatement.

"I will not stand by this," he heard the small Kuchiki said quietly behind him as he walked past her.

When he turned to inquire her, she was gone.

* * *

"This ain't right, Captain," Madarame Ikkaku grumbled, a deep set of frown marring his face. They were standing in one side of the training field as they watched some of the other officers train the recruits to their bones.

"Renji ain't a criminal." _Renji ain't a normal case too, I guess. Still._

"Heck if I know," Kenpachi grunted, picking on his ear. The loud redhead was once his subordinate too, so he was somewhat concerned about him. He didn't show it much on the outside, however.

Kusajishi Yachiru was slumped on one of his broad shoulders, playing with one of the giant's spikes with a sad look on her usually cheerful face. "Poor Ren-chan."

"Poor him, indeed," fifth seat Yumichika sighed as he was leaning on one of the pillars next to his long-time partner-in-crime. This was surely the beginning of more conflicts ahead.

* * *

"We need to do something, Kira," Hisagi Shuuhei decided seriously.

"No, Hisagi-san," Kira Izuru groaned in exasperation. "Stop whatever it is you're thinking before you get us in trouble," he admonished the other lieutenant firmly.

"We are already _in_ trouble _because Renji is being imprisoned like a criminal_ when he's _not_!"

The continued to bicker the merits of going against orders and try to 'rescue' Renji from his supposed 'protection', when another usually silent lieutenant voiced her thoughts.

"I fear for him," Hinamori Momo murmured in one corner. Her small hands loosely holding a cup of tea that she seemed to find very interesting.

Ever since the whole debacle with her traitor of a captain, she was usually very quiet and only smiled at some moments, keeping to herself most of the time. Sometimes when the topic went to a certain... sensitive matter, she would relapse and everyone else's mood would turn sour. They tried to skip over those kinds of topics whenever possible.

"What if Renji was taken and we don't know about it?" she worried. Izuru and Hisagi frowned in contemplation. It was true. Renji was put somewhere that not many people can enter without the right keys. Aizen could already be devising a plan to bypass that.

But then she continued with a slightly more hysterical tone. "What if Captain Aizen comes and... and I don't get to see _him_?" her eyes widen, the pupils dilated yet her gaze was blank. She went still as a rock, body going into shock. Izuru scrambled to her side in case she went into yet another seizure.

"Hinamori..."

_After all this time she is still..._

* * *

Hitsugaya Toshiro looked up from a document he was reading when he saw his lieutenant stood up from her desk. "Where are you going, Matsumoto?"

Matsumoto Rangiku shrugged cheerily. "Oh, I'm just gonna try to see Renji for a bit—"

"You're not allowed to do that," Toshiro cut her off sharply.

Rangiku let out a frustrated noise as she backpedaled into the room and planted her hands to her hips firmly.

"Captain it's been _ten days_! He's been all alone with only the occasional faceless shadows giving him his food and stuff!" an utter exaggeration, but she was still furious.

When the young prodigy didn't relent, she threw her hands up in frustration. "This is barbaric! He is not a _convict_, Captain," she growled out in barely contained anger. "They can't treat him like one." _They can't treat him like an animal_.

"I don't like this as much as you do," Toshiro pointed out in annoyance, massaging his brows to soothe the growing headache he had, "but the Captain-Commander seems to think this is the best course of action." _And you won't be allowed entry without his permission, either way; only that smug Kuchiki can do that. _But he didn't say that part out loud, lest she tried to harass the noble, which then will pile on top of the problems that Toshiro already had.

"Now get back to work and stop thinking anything dodgy."

Rangiku bristled but couldn't say anything else as she trudged to her desk. She didn't do any of her work, though, as Toshiro would later find out in exasperation.

* * *

"Hollow activities have been going down lately," Yasutora Sado mused aloud as he walked down the street with his group of highschool friends-turn-comrade-in-arms.

"It's really strange," Ishida Uryuu agreed, a frown marring his unblemished skin while letting his chin rest on his curled fingers contemplatively. He had his suspicions.

"Where is that Kurosaki, anyway?" he added, throwing the question to the only girl in their group, knowing that out of the three of them, she was the only one who really liked to keep tabs on her friends.

Inoue Orihime tore her gaze from the ground they were walking on and blinked up to the question Uryuu asked her.

"He said that he's going back to Soul Society for a while," she recited thoughtfully as she recalled the exact moment the substitute shinigami told her that he wouldn't be going to school for some time. She was disappointed that he didn't even think of _maybe_ inviting her to come with him, but what disturbed her the most was the dark look on his face and the urgency in his tone.

Maybe something happened? But if it was important, surely he would tell the rest of them?

_Or maybe he was... checking on Kuchiki-san..._ she thought painfully as she recalled how protective the other was to the raven-haired girl.

"Any idea why?" Uryuu's inquiry distracted her from her depressing thoughts.

She breathed in deeply and sagged her shoulders. "He didn't tell me..."

_As always_.

* * *

Byakuya visited Renji every day. He would come in exactly at sundown—not that Renji would know that—and leave around an hour after that, just as the moon took its place in the night sky.

He would cast subtle looks at Renji, eyes admiring how the redhead's figure glowed in the dim darkness that was only supported by a small torch—a glow that was lost on everyone else safe for Byakuya—and the Captain-Commander, apparently.

Just as the moon shined the night sky, Renji's light flooded the surrounding area with a soft, gentle glow that was appreciated fully by Byakuya's eyes. And just as the moonlight reflecting on the still surface of his koi pond, a sense of peace entered the captain's body even as the situation keeps growing dire by the day, just being there with his lieutenant.

With those thoughts in his head, Byakuya recalled the words he threw carelessly at his lieutenant not so long ago, when they fought against each other.

_'Shall I tell you the difference between you and I? It's level. It's like the story of the monkey trying to capture the moon. No matter how he struggles, it's just the moon's reflection on the water he sees. So he only sinks into the water.'_

How the tables have turned.

Now, Byakuya found that he was the monkey reaching so desperately for his moon. So close, yet out of reach. He would grasp at whatever reflection the moon gave him on his koi pond, he would admire it and long to touch it. But he was not allowed to. And what hurt him most was that he did it upon himself. He let the moon slipped away, leaving only its reflection behind. He feared the day that even the reflections will be taken away from him, by the shadows and the dark clouds looming over the horizon. So he feasted his eyes on the moon's reflection, just a sliver of a shadowy touch, a shy gaze, on the figure merely a few steps away, barred from his reach.

And on these times, Renji didn't say anything. He didn't need to.

His captain just stood there, still as a statue. Still as a knight standing tall and strong protecting his lord. A silent guardian.

Renji let him.

* * *

"You bastard!" Kurosaki Ichigo shouted furiously, yanking the collar of one Kuchiki Byakuya's uniform high, drawing the raven close. They were in extreme proximity that Byakuya could see the dilated pupils of the substitute shinigami, the flared nose that pushed out hot air, and the snarling mouth that seemed ready to snap like a predator.

Ichigo found out about Renji's situation from Rukia, when she called him with her soul pager with a trembling, gasping voice that was so small and weak, as she retold the story that Hisagi Shuuhei told her. She was whimpering, begging for him to help her _see _Renji again, because she believed him, and she knew that he cared deeply for Renji too. That he would even rescue Renji, as he did with her before.

The horror in his expression grew the more she told him. She said that she didn't know everything yet, but what mattered to her the most was that they took Renji away like he was some sort of a cold-blooded criminal. That they took him to _M__uken_. When he asked her what it was, and when she told him, he snapped his phone shut and ran out of his house in his soul form, leaving his body for Kon to take care of without so much as an explanation.

After telling the nearest person that knew of his 'side' occupation'—that being Inoue Orihime—that he was going away, he immediately took off to Urahara's and demanded to let him use the _Senkaimon_. When asked by Urahara Kisuke for his urgency, he simply lashed out for him to _just get it done_ in a tone so dark that Kisuke silently obeyed, thinking he would get his information soon enough.

Upon entrance to _Seireitei_, he made for a series of furious flash-steps that would even make Yoruichi herself proud, aiming straight to the place he sensed a certain raven's fluctuating _reiatsu_ was located.

Going back to the present, he shook the still captain roughly. "How could you _even_ let this happen?!" he was _this_ close to wringing the infuriating noble's neck, "I thought you care for him, you cold piece of shit!"

But Byakuya was unfazed. "Unhand me, Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya thought to himself that he, at least, had the courtesy to not scream at someone's face like a banshee, assault them and disturb their activity. He was just on his way to the Central Underground Prison when the _substitute_ distracted him. He was running late.

Ichigo pushed the raven away harshly. "I misjudged you, Byakuya," he snarled almost in disgust, "you don't _deserve_ Renji."

Now _that_ did it for him.

This time it was the enraged Kuchiki who gripped his strong fingers around the orange-haired teenager's neck, piercing slate eyes boring deep into the other's brown ones. "Do you really think," he growled lowly, emphasizing every word, "that I _wanted_ this to happen to _my_ lieutenant?" Hiking the substitute shinigami off the grown due to the strength of his grip, he watched as Ichigo began to struggle.

Ichigo was just reaching for his _Zangetsu_ when the raven dropped him unceremoniously.

"What do you want me to do? Leave him under _your_ protection, as Rukia was?" he mocked harshly at the other who was gasping for breath.

"Damn you—" Ichigo rasped out. _I remember having to save her from _you_, you bastard, _he bitterly thought, unable to voice anymore since he was still scrambling for oxygen. _He had a damn strong grip, _the substitute shinigami couldn't help but scowl internally.

Byakuya silently observed the other who was still crouching on the ground, calming down from his uncharacteristic outburst.

"If there was any other way, Kurosaki Ichigo, believe me," he paused, "I would do it."

As Byakuya began to walk away from the scene, Ichigo called him.

"Wait," Ichigo breathed in another lungful of air, now standing up.

"If anything happens to him," he trailed lowly, voice heavy with dark promises should anything _did_ happen to the red-hair in question.

"It's on you."

Byakuya turned his head slightly, his eyes covered by raven hair falling on his cheeks. "I would gladly kill myself to save him," he said in strong conviction.

It was the first time he ever expressed such a strong notion he had for Renji. He was sure it didn't develop overnight, rather over the course of the years he had spent with the lieutenant, but even his own admission shook his state of mind at its core.

Ichigo nodded, satisfied. "Good."

* * *

"Hey, any chance you're gonna let me out of this dank place soon?" Abarai Renji called from inside his 'dank' cell. The guards were just leaving from delivering his daily sustenance.

Seeing the unperturbed movements from the leaving guards, the redhead stood up and approached the bars that were holding him in slowly—he was getting good at walking with the binds on his feet—he could do with a more loose binding on his hands though, he couldn't eat as easily as he wanted.

"Come on, I've been talking to myself for what... a week?," _it has been around three, I think_, _but who's counting?_ He thought distractedly, "I'm going crazy here!"

"Would you mind my company instead, Abarai?" a raspy voice uttered from somewhere near the entrance of the _M__uken_. A dark silhouette approached the barely lit area near Renji's cell, showing the face of a weary Captain-Commander.

"Captain-Commander," Renji greeted dimly, showing no hint of surprise in both his voice and demeanor, "or should I say, _Ryuu-san_?"

Yamamoto took a sharp intake of breath at the fond name. "You remember," he whispered fervently.

While his appearance had changed, somewhat, the _Seika_ was still as mesmerizing to see as he always was, with his glowing figure and flowing vermillion mane. Yamamoto was always excellent at keeping his knowledge from everyone else, but now that the secret was out, he couldn't help the nostalgia when he saw the redhead. _I must've looked very different to him, even though he was the one reborn_, he couldn't help but think self-consciously. It had been over a millennium; he had, indeed, _aged_.

"I've been getting them back," the _Seika_—Abarai, his mind supplied—shrugged, "flashes, mostly. Not enough to complete the picture. _Yet._" He didn't seem all that shocked with the idea of getting strange memories of a life he couldn't remember.

Yamamoto shuffled closer to the cell, taking a good look at the redhead. Paleness was creeping into his once sun-kissed skin, due to the lack of sun or his appearances finally catching up to his awakening and slowing turning him into what he once was, Yamamoto was not sure. His uniform—now changed into the white garments that _prisoners_ wear, hung on his thinning figure loosely. He looked very different to who Abarai Renji used to be.

Yamamoto refused to say that he was a _shell_ of the shinigami he was before.

Yet he couldn't help but feel _relieved_. And he felt the tremendous guilt that came with it, knowing what it cost.

"It's been so long..." he voiced weakly, vastly different from the firm and strong tone that he kept with others' company.

Renji observed the commander struggling not to break down in front of him. _It's almost ironic_, the redhead thought, _that_ he_ is breaking down while I'm the one being held captive_.

"I know why you're doing this," the redhead finally said as softly as he could, taking mercy on the older man, "I won't blame you for it." Yamamoto looked up at that, his eyes wide at the words that sounded so much like _forgiveness_.

Renji exhaled lowly. "But Ryuu-san," he continued with an oddly resigned tone, "you can't stop what's going to happen."

Yamamoto knew that.

* * *

A Sixth Division recruit groaned aloud, slumping against the mess hall table he was sitting on. "Man it's been almost a month! What kind of mission is Lieutenant Abarai doing anyway?" he whined to his friends.

"I heard from Rikichi-san that he's scouting the Material World," one of his friends told him conspiringly, "you know, Karakura Town has been under the Gotei 13's radar for quite some time."

"You mean with that orange-haired substitute guy?" another recruit questioned, a hint of envy in his voice. Clearly the redheaded lieutenant had managed to swoon and gather the admiration of the new recruits even barely two months into their time in the division. Not to mention that he would once or twice cook up a feast whenever he was in a good mood.

When the shinigami who told them of that fact shrugged in half-confirmation, they all sighed.

"Lucky him."

_If only they knew_.

* * *

"How are we going to get him?" Ichimaru Gin wondered aloud, his finger tapping against his chin in a mocking fashion of puzzlement.

Aizen Sousuke propped his cheek on his hand where he was sitting at the forefront of the meeting table. "They are all susceptible to my _zanpakuto_," he assured his comrades, _all except those _ryoka, he thought. But he figured they won't be much of a threat, barring the shinigami one.

"We just need some... ah, preparations," he smiled confidently.

Tosen Kaname lifted his head from his seated position by Aizen's left. "They're on high alert."

Light and shadows in the meeting room shifted, showing glimpses of white uniforms and bone-like appendages.

"Then we wait."

* * *

"What's the situation, Yoruichi-san?" Urahara Kisuke asked over the soul pager he was holding, his eyes roaming over the monitors in front of him that would show any spikes in unusual _reiatsu_ around Karakura Town. It was not dissimilar to Kurotsuchi Mayuri's lab, only with smaller space and less advanced equipment. But it would have to do.

Yoruichi hesitated at the other end of the line, "It's... it's really bad, Kisuke," she voiced unusually quiet, "I don't think that I should..."

"I'll have to stay here a little longer," she decided firmly.

She told him of the situation that was informed to her by the senior captains under the permission of the Captain-Commander himself, deeming it necessary for the allies to know of the circumstances. Each sentence making Kisuke grow more sympathetic of the Sixth Division Lieutenant in captivity, yet his scientific mind couldn't help but be curious on the redhead's being. He had been receiving Renji in his shop for a long while, and not a single time did he notice anything short of the ordinary from the lieutenant. He needed to look into this.

"How is he taking it?" he finally inquired, knowing that Yoruichi knew who he was talking about.

She huffed out in irritation. "That spoiled brat... he's hiding it but I know that he regretted it," she growled out, remembering her encounter with Kuchiki Byakuya when she did almost the same thing that Kurosaki Ichigo did to him before.

"Is there any other choice?"

"I hate to admit it, but this is the most logical option that we could think of," she muttered sullenly on the line.

"Should I come?" Kisuke offered, considering his options. If he left Karakura, he feared that the rest of their allies there won't be enough to—

"No, you stay there with the rest of the group," Yoruichi interrupted his thought, "in case _Aizen_ decided to visit."

_Great minds think alike._

* * *

It has been forty-seven days since the Lieutenant Abarai Renji's confinement in the _Muken, _with only the topmost officials and allies in the know about the situation.

There were no signs of Aizen as of yet, the allies were growing weary.

It was a _waiting_ game and a mental battery.

Restlessness will be their doom.

Just one. Little.

_Slip_.

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

_Haori_: a Japanese style outer jacket that is usually hip or thigh-length (varying lengths are used by the Gotei 13 captains here), worn open, sometimes closed witha string connected to its lapels.

_Ryoka_: lit. traveling evil(s); a term used for those who invade into Soul Society. Ichigo and his friends were labeled as _ryoka_ when they invaded Soul Society to rescue Rukia.

_*Byakuya's 'Monkey and the Moon' quote is an actual translated quote from the manga/anime._


	9. Chapter 9 - Strategy

Chapter 9 – Strategy

* * *

Unohana Retsu gingerly lifted her teacup as she sat down in front of Yamamoto Genryuusai, the setting casual enough that they weren't wearing their captain _haori_.

"Captain-Commander, it's been exactly one hundred days since Lieutenant Abarai's... incarceration," she began delicately, peering into her mentor's eyes. Yamamoto was silent, the only evidence that he was in any way affected by her words through his clenching and unclenching fingers wrapped around his own cup.

"Maybe," Ukitake Jushiro continued in her stead, voice tinted with hesitance to tell what they were all thinking, "maybe he's not what Aizen is looking for, after all." On his side, Kyoraku Shunsui hummed in agreement, sprawled out on the tatami as he gazed to the quaint little garden outside of the Captain-Commander's private residence.

"Aizen is simply biding his time," Yamamoto put forth strongly, his voice tight.

The conversation had begun with small talks that barely mattered, light chatters, and gossips about daily life filled the room. And then the topic progressively grew deeper and more serious. He had a feeling that it was all a set-up, those nasty students of his.

"We don't know that for sure," Shunsui finally added in a drawl to the conversation, his head cocked to the side and rested on his open palm.

Yamamoto rose his head at the remark, narrowing his eyes at Shunsui who immediately raised his hands up in mock surrender.

"What if we are wrong?" Retsu wondered, her teeth worrying over her lips in a long-forgotten childhood habit. A frown marred her deceptively youthful face. _It didn't belong there_, Yamamoto decided, unused to see the medic so perturbed.

She continued, "what if Aizen already gets what he wants?"

_And what then?_

* * *

Not even a week after their conversation, a scout came in to deliver urgent news.

"There's an attack in the Material World!" he abruptly exclaimed as he barged into the Captain-Commander's office room. It was already filled with the three senior captains and one Kuchiki Byakuya.

"What?" Jushiro frowned, "I thought Aizen is—"

"And apparently he's luring out a different person altogether," the scout interrupted, talking a little too rushed to let the captain finished his words. It seemed that whatever news he wished to deliver was very important. He was Sagaki Fukunoda, one of the only people besides the guards assigned to Abarai Renji's monitoring that were made aware of the situation brewing amongst the Gotei 13.

His and his family's loyalty to Seireitei had been tried time and time again for years, and his resolve unwavering that the Captain-Commander took notice, appointing him as his 'scout' to take on covert spy missions that could not be released even to the _Onmitsukido_. This mission was no different, with only the Commander of the _Onmitsukido_, Soi-Fon, and her second-in-command made aware just because of their status as also a captain and lieutenant of the Second Division.

"What do you mean by that, Fuku-san?" Shunsui inquired Fukunoda loosely. Motioning for him to gather his bearings before continuing on.

The scout nodded and gulped. "We will have to look into it further, but from the reports, it seems that," he trailed uncertainly, eyeing Captain Kuchiki and the Captain-Commander back and forth, "it seems that it was someone from Kurosaki's group."

Byakuya stopped whatever he was doing and looked at the scout's direction, who almost flinched.

_What?_

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes. "Explain."

"When the fighting took place, the _Espada_ that commanded the Arrancar squadron seemed to be focusing on Kurosaki's group," Fukunoda explained, "particularly the girl."

"Inoue... Orihime, is it?" Retsu took a guess. She had the pleasure of meeting and talking with the young woman before. She was a sweet girl; kind and naïve. Retsu feared that naivety might just be her downfall, even more so with her... unique powers. It was a very different form of _kido_ that even she was not familiar with. Either the girl was truly blessed, or it was her curse all along.

"Yes."

Jushiro hesitated. "But then... the _Seika_...?" _Then Abarai was not what Aizen was searching for, after all?_

"We're not sure about that yet."

"...I see."

Byakuya remained silent.

* * *

It was three days later that Byakuya received the news that Aizen took the human girl. And that Kurosaki—the negligent _boor_—and his group of teenage friends decided to go to Hueco Mundo to try and rescue her. Foolish, if she really was who Aizen had been searching for, then he would not let her go that easily. She might not even be in Hueco Mundo altogether.

"What did you say?"

Kuchiki Byakuya opened his mouth, "Kurosaki—"

"No, I heard you the first time, Captain," Renji interrupted the raven, raising his hand as a sign for his captain to stop speaking. Regardless of his lieutenant irrationality, Byakuya complied.

The noble just arrived some minutes ago, as he usually did. He stood near the flickering torch, as he usually did. But then he _talked_, _not_ what he usually did.

And what he said jarred Renji.

"So it's not me, after all, right?" the redhead pressed.

Deeming his captain's lack of response as a sign of defeat, Renji huffed out a breath in satisfaction.

"Then you'll have to let me go."

The Kuchiki once again started, as if a machine spurred to life, "we're still not certain if it is safe, Lieutenant."

It could be a trick. It could be his tactics. He was, as Byakuya would begrudgingly admit, a great mastermind. He would weave webs after webs of deception, clouding his enemies' judgments and deluding them into thinking they knew what he was planning, only to pull the rug under their feet and push them into a dark pit that they could not get out from. A master of illusions, befitting of his powers.

"_Aizen took Inoue_!" the lieutenant grounded out in frustration, "that's more than enough reason to let me go!"

"Kurosaki and his group are on their way to rescue her," the noble simply said. As If it was a simple matter, a passing thought. A _nuisance_.

It irritated Renji even more. So the noble hadn't learned at all. Still dismissing others' feelings, still deeming them infinitesimal. Still as insensitive as ever.

Renji banged on the bars that separated him from his captain, the enchanted metal didn't budge even a slight bit, as was the unfazed Kuchiki standing in front of him.

"Then I should go with them!"

"I am of no use rotting away in this cell," Renji reasoned, his appearance suddenly haggard. He slumped back to the billowy cot laid to the corner of the cell, hiding in his hands as he furiously scrubbed his face in frustration.

Byakuya observed his lieutenant's pitiful state, but he dared not say it out loud. It was both hypnotic and sad. The lieutenant's long hair, dull yet shining with the glow emitted by his form was fascinating to see. The tresses falling over his face, curtains of red hiding away his sorrowful expression. His white kimono almost _enticing_, color clashing with the ever so pale skin that missed the touch of sunlight, the garbs hanging on the bony shoulders, body growing thinner due to the limited space for a proper exercise and lack of abundance of food that he used to have.

In the back of his mind, Byakuya couldn't help but miss the redhead's cooking.

But Renji wouldn't want to hear any of that. He wouldn't want to know.

Renji hated that his captain remained so infuriatingly unchanged, unmoved, unfazed. Renji suspected that the noble didn't even _listen _to what he said just now. His ears only reserved to hear what he wanted and what he deemed 'correct'.

Renji was pulled out of his captain-hating thoughts when another voice—gentle, sympathetic—pierced through the air. "He's right, Byakuya," Ukitake Jushiro remarked as he walked through the gates that sealed the _Muken_ away from the outside world.

Security had been lax, it seemed. It used to take Byakuya some while to get in, even with his maximum clearance granted by the Captain-Commander. The verification process of the keys given to him was long and arduous before the _Muken_ itself deemed his entrance safe.

_We will have to look into that_, he thought.

Renji greeted the white-haired captain in almost relief, "Captain Ukitake."

Jushiro nodded to the redhead, silently noting his condition and health. "I talked to the Captain-Commander," the captain started, looking at the only Kuchiki in the room pointedly, "and it seemed that your sister is adamant to help too."

Byakuya jerked his head to the other captain. Within his cell, Renji was showing his shock in a more blatant manner.

"You can't let Rukia go alone, Captain," he stated. It wasn't even about him being free from the blasted cell anymore. He wasn't letting Rukia go alone into Hueco Mundo.

"I will go with her, then," Byakuya decided easily. If anyone was going to assist the stubborn girl, it would be Byakuya, _her_ older brother.

"You are needed here as our line of defense, Byakuya," Jushiro reasoned, "the situation is extremely fragile, Aizen might be planning an invasion. With the _Hogyōku_ and Inoue Orihime in his hands..." he trailed off. Indeed, Inoue Orihime held a unique power that Aizen might just exploit. To be able to 'reject' anything from happening... it's god-like.

But Byakuya was stubborn.

"Please, _Byakuya_," Renji begged, for the first time calling the Kuchiki by his name.

* * *

"Who stayed behind?" Urahara Kisuke asked his partner as she arrived through the Senkaimon in his underground facility.

"Lesser officers, a few medics and the Captain-Commander's personal guards," Shihouin Yoruichi listed off the top of her head. After a little more than a month in Soul Society, monitoring and reporting instances back and forth between the Gotei 13 and Urahara's shop, she got back at a moment's notice when Kisuke told her that Aizen already made his move in Karakura Town. Well, the 'fake' one, at least. It was a good plan to prepare for his invasion. And it paid off.

"The captains?" Kisuke pressed.

The cat sighed and looked at her companion despairingly, "Byakuya-bo went with his sister to assist Ichigo's team, some others were sent to assist them," she explained, "the rest of the captains and lieutenants were all dispatched to handle the _Espada_ and Aizen in the 'fake' Karakura Town."

Kisuke paused his thoughts. "Hold on..." he started worriedly, "then who's guarding—"

"No one," Yoruichi cut him off abruptly, frustration creeping in her voice, "well, there are the guards, and the Captain-Commander had the keys with him. But other than that..."

"Yoruichi-san," Urahara Kisuke looked at the other, distress in his tone and realization in his eyes.

Yoruichi mirrored his expression. "I know, Kisuke."

* * *

"Won't you show us your power, Captain-Commander?" Aizen Sousuke taunted as he defended against the forces of Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi at the same time. The rest of his _Espada_ was defeated, Tosen Kaname lying on the ground, and Ichimaru Gin was the only one that was left. Yet he still managed to be so dauntingly arrogant.

Yamamoto grunted in fury. "You will regret asking that of me, Aizen. Even your tricks will not save you from Ryujin Jakka," he growled dangerously, unsheathing his _zanpakuto_ with blazing flames bursting out of the katana.

"My tricks?" Aizen had the nerve to cock his head innocently as if he didn't know what the old commander was talking about.

Kisuke and Yoruichi were panting in exhaustion at the prolonged battle. Yamamoto eyed them wearily, they would not last any longer. As were the rest of his officers, who were all watching on the ground, bodies out of gas that they could not maintain flight anymore. Shinsui and Jushiro were huddled together as the watched in worry at the battle happening above. Aizen was extremely strong. He wished Kurosaki would arrive sooner. He was their only hope for when Aizen activated his power.

"Your _shikai_," Yamamoto said simply.

At that, Aizen had to suppress a chuckle threatening to burst out of his fine lips.

"Who's to say," he goaded smugly, "that I haven't activated it from the start?"

Yamamoto _felt _his blood curdled.

Dull red hair flashed in his mind.

* * *

"Ichigo!" Kuchiki Rukia called, relief in her voice as she ran to the beaten-looking substitute shinigami, he was cradling his slightly bloodied arm, sleeve torn from when he was fighting before. But he looked well enough, and it was a relief for her.

"Rukia!" the orange-haired shinigami exclaimed, pleasantly surprised to see the small Kuchiki bounding over to his side. Walking at a more sedate pace behind her was the older, not-so-pleasant brother of hers.

He straightened up. "Byakuya."

The Kuchiki barely acknowledged him, however, and instead swiftly turned his head to a sudden appearance of another _Espada_. No time for chatter now.

Yammy Llargo, he called himself boastfully. The known weakest _Espada_ despite his size, turned into something more grotesque as the fight went on. He was the 'zero' _Espada _when he once again transformed into a building-sized monster, six legs trailing behind his elongated body like an awfully dysmorphic elephant. 'I'm the strongest _Espada_ now,' he proclaimed arrogantly, stomping his feet around as he swatted the shinigami as if they were flies.

Zaraki Kenpachi came along to join in on the 'party' as he shouted out loud in glee. They even went on to make it a competition between him and Byakuya, the noble irately taunted and easily swayed into Kenpachi's game. Any other thoughts that muddled his mind were set aside, focusing on the thrill of battle instead. A wrong target, sure, but the stupidly large _Espada_ was barely a threat to him, he thought as he dodged another one of Kenpachi's blow, having half the mind to at least throw some attacks to the 'zero' _Espada _while he was at it.

Ichigo had to yell and scold at the two for them to focus 'some' of their attention to the real threat. _Really, even the boy could handle that himself_, Byakuya thought, irritated, summoning a blast of glimmering, deathly blade petals to the large monster.

Not long after, Kurotsuchi Mayuri and his lieutenant came to the scene, traumatized looking Ishida Uryuu and Yasutora Sado trailing behind. Mayuri was observing the battle from the sidelines, an unusually serious expression on his face.

_Why did Aizen leave this place? _he thought, _surely, surely he needed to guard against us from taking his prize. Yet he left us with these pathetic excuse of a _legion_ to fight. _

Maybe he didn't keep the girl here? A pocket of space, perhaps? Was the _Hogyōku_ capable of that?

After the fighting stopped did he finally approach the four shinigami, a dead giant as their backdrop. _It didn't matter_, he thought, he just needed to get Kurosaki Ichigo to the 'fake' Karakura Town where everyone was battling it out.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo finally asked the female Kuchiki, his brain still buzzing from the adrenaline rush, a wolfish grin on his face, reminiscent of his Hollow nature, possibly.

Thriving in battles, basking in kill after kill.

"Rescuing you, you dolt," Rukia punched the substitute shinigami lightly. He sobered up, scoffing.

"What's the situation?" he looked around, seeing his friends lying some meters away, being tended by the just arriving Unohana Retsu and her lieutenant, Kotetsu Isane. _They're safe_, he thought in relief.

"Gotei 13 are fighting Aizen's forces in Karakura Town right now," Rukia explained, eyeing her brother hovering behind her, "he's there too."

Ichigo nodded his head, and snapped his fingers in remembrance, "what about Renji?"

"He's not who Aizen is looking for, after all," the young Kuchiki mused aloud, reminding herself that Renji was still in the _Muken_, probably waiting for their return. She wasn't sure yet what his role was in all of this, but she was just glad that he was at least safe from Aizen's clutches.

At the expense of Inoue, but still.

And now she couldn't wait to go back and tell him the news. To tell him that they managed to get Ichigo and the others back safely, and to plan Inoue Orihime's rescue—

"What are you talking about, Kuchiki-san? What happened to Abarai-kun?" a sweet girlish voice of one Inoue Orihime could be heard through the abnormal silence of Hueco Mundo.

She was approaching the group huddling near the battlefield, just finished checking on her two friends that were being tended by the more than capable hands of the Fourth Division captain. Not far away from her were a trio of mismatched looking Hollows that seemed harmless enough, one of them was a mere child.

Ichigo found himself smiling to greet the just arriving girl, who apparently just finished patching up Nel Tu, and ruffled the Hollow child's turquoise mane as she glomped his back. Unnoticing of the shell-shocked faces of the Gotei 13 officers.

Rukia exclaimed in surprise, "Inoue! I thought..." _I thought Aizen was holding her captive, why would he just let her—_

"Why would he leave his most precious cargo behind in this desolate place with only a fraction of his weaker underlings?" Mayuri muttered, eyeing the orange-haired girl who was torn between worry and confusion.

_Unless_...

Unohana Retsu's sharp gaze, filled with foreboding knowledge found Kurotsuchi Mayuri's and Byakuya's frozen ones even from her position far away on the sidelines. She too was shocked when she saw the girl approaching and asking her about her friends' conditions. She pieced together the information soon enough. She told Retsu that she was tending to the injuries of the three fairly 'unique' hollows, harmless, and friendly to her knowledge. Retsu remained silent and only smiled to the girl as to not scare the girl as she left to meet with Kurosaki.

Sensing the increasingly concerning atmosphere around him, Ichigo turned his head to Byakuya, striding in close and found his fists jerking the noble's uniform collar once again.

"What did you do?" he questioned frantically at the still noble.

"Where's _Renji_?"

* * *

He was always fond of the human game of chess. The strategic intellect it required drew him into the hours spent playing it. Sure, the games of shogi he played were entertaining, but there was something about holding the chess pieces that drew him in. The elegant curves and grooves of the pieces put his mind in a state of bliss, as he would gleefully take piece after piece from the opposing side. It was too bad that none of his... _friends_, shared his interest.

So he mostly kept it to himself.

The techniques, the tactics—the strategy.

It was not much different from the game he was playing now. Only this time, he _needed to win_. He _lived_ for it.

For this moment.

Feints and tricks at his disposal. He had it all. Now he just needed to get that queen piece. The one that could ruin him or bring his greatest victory.

The most powerful piece.

He walked on into the darkness. Stopping just out of reach of the light shining from a single torch. Fire licking lazily on the air, flickering sparks shoot all around from the dust particles that came in contact with it. Illuminating a figure laying in a barred containment.

_A golden cage for a sweet, sweet songbird. Would you sing for me?_

Unaware of the danger outside of the little safe haven he deemed hell. Despondent. Alone.

_Did your king leave you? Did your knights flee? _

He watched his prize behind enchanted bars, knowing that it would submit beautifully under his strength, metal bending at his very command.

_Did your pawns die?_

Trails of blood on the floor invisible under the darkness. They tried. They failed. They were _weak_.

"It seems that the old man underestimated my prowess," he voiced in his honey-rich, deep baritone in a mock bemusement.

Abarai Renji's eyes opened. He looked around to see where the unsettlingly familiar voice came from.

_Sweet songbird, would you show me your wings?_

"Leaving you alone like this," the man continued, amusement clear in his voice.

_Little songbird, let me set you free. _

He showed himself into the light of the lone torch.

Brown hair. White garbs.

A dark smile.

_In turn, let me have your feathers._

Renji's eyes widen.

_**Let me crush your wings**_**. **

"You..."

_Check_.

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

What a roller coaster! That last part held a whole another tone than the rest of the chapter, didn't it? And yes, this is by far the very shortest chapter I have ever written for this story, sorry! I just don't know what else to add! And if you noticed, this is based loosely on the Hueco Mundo and Fake Karakura Town arcs. I don't go deep into the actual battle scenes and all that because one, I'm not a good enough writer for that and two, I think reciting the canon battles here would be redundant and boring for you guys :)


	10. Chapter 10 - Crumbling

Chapter 10 – Crumbling

* * *

"A decoy."

"_All of it_."

Captain Kyoraku Shunsui sighed. "He played us." he looked older than he usually was, frown lines and tired eyes marred his usually carefree expression.

"Played us? He made us dance around his dick like a bunch of cheap whores!" Kurosaki Ichigo slammed his hands on the Captain-Commander's table violently.

It was the aftermath of their so-called 'battle' with Aizen and his Arrancar cronies. All the captains were assembled in the Captain-Commander's office despite the owner's absence, when Kurosaki Ichigo showed up out of nowhere and started demanding explanations.

Ukitake Jushiro tried to calm the hotheaded young man down, "now now, Kurosaki, there's no need for such vulgar—"

But Ichigo wouldn't be having any of it. He slammed his hands on the poor table once more, glaring at every single officer standing in the room lividly.

"Why the _fuck_ did you let all the lieutenants and captains fight out there?! If Renji is such an important asset, you should know fucking better!" he shouted, his tone taunting shameful expressions to come out of the officers.

He succeeded in some. Jushiro looked positively guilty, thinking that he also played a part in it when he easily thought that Aizen wouldn't be coming for the redhead who was now _gone_. Some of the other captains looked disgruntled at Ichigo's accusing tone, but couldn't say anything back for they knew he was right.

Unohana Retsu decided to intercept the substitute shinigami's nonchalant display of disrespect before he went any further. "Kurosaki Ichigo!" she admonished sharply.

Ichigo sneered at her, no hint of his usual respectful tone whenever he spoke to her was evident, "there's no time for _formality_, Unohana-san."

She couldn't help but stifle a sharp intake of breath at his tone.

"And you," the orange-haired terror pointed his finger to one of the only two captains in the room that so far had shown no reaction whatsoever.

"You said it yourself, didn't you?"

"You'll die to protect him," he said in a deceptively calm voice.

Byakuya went rigid.

"And I will do so," he whispered. He left the room as swiftly as the wind.

"Kuchiki Byakuya!" the other captains called his name, but he was gone as if he was never there.

A pair of cold, amber eyes of one Kurosaki Ichigo watched the spot where the noble captain used to be.

* * *

His stride was swift and long, his black as night hair whipping through the wind in his haste. His lips curled and taut, his jaw clenched to the point of breaking.

_Wrong decision after wrong decision. _

He tightened his fist, his unusually gnarly nails stabbing into his skin and drawing lines of blood to the surface.

_And now Renji is _gone_._

His frame trembled in rage barely contained in his warrior body, waiting to burst and lash out to the world.

_Aizen took him._

In a slip of control, he slammed his taut fist to the wall next to him. It cracked.

_I let him—_

He waited for the blood to trickle down his skin. Waited for the sting that would surely come. To hurt him.

.

.

It didn't.

He looked at his hand in horror.

...

"_Where's Renji?" Kurosaki Ichigo demanded, his glare sharp enough to pierce through bones. _

_Byakuya held his ground. "He's safe." _

_Besides him, Kuchiki Rukia took a step back in horror, her small hands covering her mouth in horrifying realization._

"_No. No, Inoue is not who he was looking for. It's a _decoy_, Aizen—"_

"_No, Rukia," Byakuya stopped her before she went into a panicked state. To assure her or himself, he wasn't quite sure. _

"_We have to go back, nii-sama!" she clutched her brother's uniform, searching his eyes desperately. _

_He wouldn't let himself believe her words. _

_He couldn't. _

_..._

"_Scour the entire Soul Society!" the Captain-Commander shouted harshly at his subordinates. "Leave no buildings unchecked, no rocks unturned! FIND HIM!"_

"_Kuchiki, you come with me."_

_He turned swiftly and motioned for Byakuya to follow him with his crazed glare and a quick jerk of his head. His demeanor was a 180-degree change from his usually composed behavior even under great stress. He looked barbaric. It showed how dire the situation was for him. But Byakuya refused to acknowledge any of that. He was simply hunting Aizen who managed to escape, was all. _

_Renji was _safe_. _

_And so he followed the old commander as a silent shadow, his expression blank. _

_His sister just had to appear at that moment, as if reminding him that it was not just his imagination. "Nii-sama I—"_

"_Not now Rukia," he ordered her. He didn't want her to say anything, anymore. At least for now. He didn't need her to say anything which confirmed that _one fact_._

_He left her standing, a shocked expression in her face. Tears running down her cheeks. Why was she crying? It wasn't as if anything happened to her. Was he too harsh? She had experienced many of his worse rages, surely she was not as weak as he thought. She was his sister, after all. Even Hisana was strong, despite her sickly body. He refused to go down that path of wallowing, however, he didn't need the sadness that comes whenever the thoughts of his late wife crossed his mind, not now. _

_He followed Yamamoto to the Muken. Were they visiting Renji? He didn't like to visit Renji when there was another person with him. It was less... personal. He was never there to do anything, so it wasn't as if the presence of the captain-Commander would do anything. But he liked to think that he was special. That the old commander's history with _his_ lieutenant was not real. He wouldn't suspect that the two even hold any hint of romantic interest in their past. It would be too disturbing, he decided. Renji was a beautiful thing, a gem, while the Captain-Commander was... well, he wasn't sure how he had looked like in his youth. A sight to see, he assumed, but not in the way that would be too pleasant on the eyes, he dared to think. _

_All these distracting thoughts muddled his mind, he kept his gaze upfront, not daring to look to his sides as he followed the Captain-Commander into the lowest level of Central Great Underground Prison—the _Muken_. _

_The Captain-Commander had a grim expression on his face, Byakuya noted. He opened the gate that separated Muken from the world, deep underground, and stepped in. _

_A single torch was flickering, illuminating the dark. _

_The blood that streaked the surface, nor the smell of death surrounding him didn't compute to his senses, at that moment._

_Nor was the fact that those bodies belonged to the guards that were supposed to watch over Byakuya's lieutenant._

_But he did notice something, at last._

_There was no second source of light that he had gotten used to. The gleaming, gentle light emitted by a source far more saintly than the tattered torch. _

_And neither of the two reasons that he made up in his mind was good enough for him._

_One. Renji stopped emitting his light, which could only mean—death. He refused to choose that option._

_Two. He was not there. Taken. By _Aizen_. Or maybe he escaped—_

"_How did this happen," Yamamoto's weak voice cut through his denials. _

_It was as if cold ice rained down his entire body, frigid surfaces that scraped through his skin, making the hairs on his skin stood on ends. _

_The cell was open. Renji's zanpakuto was left behind. It could only mean one thing._

"_I do not know, Captain-Commander," he whispered, voice barely audible. Afraid that any louder he would get himself a heart attack. Bile seemed to rise up his throat. The smell of blood and decaying bodies suddenly hit him full force. _

_His _reiatsu_ exploded. The entire space trembled from the force, the cell door slammed closed, the bodies moved violently on the ground, splattering about like fish._

_Yamamoto was in his own world. His body swayed and trembled, but his eyes were glazed._

"_The keys," the Captain-Commander mumbled, his hands trembling as he reached for the keys into _Muken_ that never left his person, "it never left me..." his voice quivered, his fingers clutching on the box of keys so hard, that the wooden box almost cracked from the force. _

_Yet Aizen still managed to—_

"_Aizen took him."_

_That was the final nail in the coffin. _

_..._

_Aizen took Renji._

He stood still as a rock, as a statue of black and white. His eyes stared into the distance, watching nothing and everything. The scampering officers who jumped away from his vicinity, the birds who ceased to chirp in the cusp of twilight. Highly unusual. If only he took a moment's glance, he would find that his burst of reiatsu managed to stun those poor feathered creatures to fall from the high places they were perched at, down to the cold ground they went. And that the shinigami who scampered away were actually blasted off by the burst of his unadulterated energy. That, too, he didn't notice.

He didn't know what happened to him. It felt as if all the rage in the world, all the anger, the red hot fury decided to reside within him. His saw red, his veins pulsating madly. His thoughts as if a drugged man—delirious, dangerous. Poisonous.

But his eyes weren't blank. They were sharp, slate grey shone more brightly than ever. But his pupils were dilated. His mind unfocused.

A sudden calm struck him like lightning. As if an epiphany dawned its full brutal force on him. His thoughts receded; all the distractions, the unnecessary musings faded, and narrowed down into one single, ultimatum.

_I must save Renji. _

"Byakuya."

Kurosaki Ichigo. A nuisance.

"I'm coming with you," the nuisance stated, leaving no room for argument. As if he knew what Byakuya was planning to do—something that he only thought of mere seconds before the substitute shinigami's arrival.

Ichigo noticed the blast of _reiatsu_ that exploded off the Kuchiki. He knew something happened to the man. Not simply his emotionally compromised mind, having to lose his precious lieutenant, but something else. He had a feeling, but he wouldn't bet on it just yet. That was why he remained quiet about what he just saw, his mind acknowledging something far more important at the moment.

"You will hinder me."

Ichigo bristled in indignation. How dare he thought of Ichigo as a hindrance? "You brought all this upon yourself," he attacked viciously, satisfaction evident in his eyes when he watched the raven's jaws clenched impossibly hard. "I'm just making sure you're not messing up again."

He sure knew how to hit where it hurt most. But as everything was with Kuchiki Byakuya, what hurt most didn't topple him down from his high pedestal. What hurt him most made him slam the other person to the wall with another burst of his lethal _reiatsu_—as Ichigo would find, and thanked heavens his shinigami body was more durable than most—and pinned him there without even touching him.

"**Do not test me**," the Sixth Division's captain growled, his voice _different_, dripping with dark promises and Ichigo's senses screamed 'danger' in his ears, wanting him to act, to protect himself from the monster in front of him.

"I can destroy you where you stand." And for a split second, Ichigo believed that.

This was not the Kuchiki Byakuya he knew.

This was _not_ Kuchiki Byakuya.

The substitute shinigami choked where he was pinned, a feral grin grew on his face, his eyes flashed into black. "_All the better_."

* * *

A rough slap echoed in the vast chamber. Its white walls and dull lighting turned the area grey and grim, despite its majestic structures.

Aizen Sousuke touched his barely stinging cheek, his smile ever-present and dominating.

"What do you want from me?" Renji glared viciously, trying to get loose from the Arrancars holding him steady, but without his strength and _Zabimaru_, he was as good as a human.

"It has been a long time, Abarai-kun," Aizen said sweetly, as if the slap from the redhead didn't happen, " I missed seeing your flaming hair," he cooed, drawing closer and touching a strand of wild red hair and patting it in place.

Renji jerked away, body reacting impulsively in revulsion. "Don't touch me."

Azizen showed mercy and pulled away. He gave the redhead a calculating gaze before smirking.

"I have to say," he drawled, eyeing the peeking collarbones from the redhead's loose white garment, the almost sickly pale skin and lanky figure, "imprisonment suits you well."

Renji snarled at that and with renewed vigor, struggled against the Arrancars. He remembered, and he noticed all the times that Byakuya looked at him in longing, the same hungry looks he gave Renji whenever he thought the redhead was sleeping in his cell. He never once felt revulsion and disgust. He was, to some extent, happy. but when Aizen did it, like he was doing right now, Renji had to stop himself from cowering away from the man. As if he was a piece of meat. A prey.

Something more than just a means to Aizen's ultimate goal.

Aizen turned to his followers. "Leave us."

And they all shuffled away from the chamber, including the ones holding Renji in a tight grip. He noticed Ichimaru Gin throwing him a mocking sympathetic glance and a cheery wave before the doors leading to the room slammed shut.

Renji jumped away to the farthest side of the room, taking a fighting stance. So what if he didn't have his _zanpakuto _with him? He could fight with his bare hands, and he could use _kido_, if he needed to.

Point being, he was _not_ giving up on escaping. No matter how bleak the outcome would be.

"Don't be afraid, Abarai-kun," Aizen consoled the redhead, stepping closer while his lips were balancing a binding spell in case the redhead went wild. He was like a moody tiger, after all. Who knew what silly stunt he might pull? He might hurt himself, Aizen wouldn't have that.

"Who's afraid, you bastard?" Renji shouted in irritation. He had enough of the brunette mocking his masculinity as if he was nothing more than a damsel in distress—helpless.

He charged head-on, a war cry tore through his throat as he raised his fist that was aimed to nail the brunet's solar plexus.

Aizen sighed, turning just a slight and taking hold of Renji's arms in one movement as the redhead tried to punch the brunet.

"Such crass attitude," he tutted, his tone was that of a disappointed parent, yet his eyes were smiling in cruel amusement. _You will never outmaneuver me, _they said. _Why did you even try?_

"Let's be honest, you're not here to judge my manners," Renji spat, jerking his arms from Aizen's tightening grip, "let me go."

"You're free to leave," Aizen loosened his hands, "but."

He jerked the redhead closer, looking at him in the eyes.

Aizen whispered, deep baritone rumbled out of his body—not unlike a lion's growl. "_After_ I am done with you."

And then he composed himself, an easy smile taking place once again on his face. As if one moment ago, the disguised beast in humanoid form was never there. "Now, let's get you somewhere... _safe_."

* * *

The Captain-Commander was different.

Since their return from their deceitful battle with Aizen, since his return from the _Muken_ with Kuchiki Byakuya in tow, he was different. A shell. He had a far off look in his eyes when he emerged from the prison. His old body, usually ever vigil, slumped with burdens invisible to the naked eyes. He noticed his students there—the three of them. The worried look both Retsu and Jushiro gave him as he walked past them, the unusually calculative gaze Shunsui threw at him. He brushed them aside.

He didn't attend the emergency meeting in which Kurosaki Ichigo made a spectacle out of. Instead, he enclosed himself in his captain's quarters ever since. None of the other captains and officers, even his most trusted scouts and personal guards were allowed entry. Not by the way his _Ryujin Jakka_ guarded the entrance, his fire bursting and exploding this way and that the moment anyone got close to the vicinity. His fiery eyes glaring off any wandering little birds from straying anywhere near, dangerous, pulsating _reiatsu_ kept every single living being away.

It had been three days since his self-induced exile into his personal quarters, and he had not yet come out of it. Not even his oldest students could coax him out to lead them in these dark times. He fell into depression.

He failed.

Yamamoto watched as water dripped down his face, into the water basin waiting below. He observed the weary old man staring back at him in the mirror. The ugly lines marring his ancient skin, the white hair that replaced what was once intimidating black mane. The haunting, empty eyes.

He knew he should probably get out. He should plan a rescue for Abarai Renji. He was, after all, the _Seika_. He was certain that Aizen would use the holy blessing for his own gains, in any way he could. He should also probably tell his students that he was alright.

He sunk his hands into the water basin, waiting, watching as the water softened his skin and turned them wrinkly as a prune. And he brought them back up to his face. He went for a cloth to dry his skin, but his hand trembled inexplicably. He gasped and in a moment's panic, grabbed purchase on the unassuming basin for balance, yet he fell, taking the basin and its content down with him. The water got everywhere. Seeping into his clothes and the carpeting of his quarters.

But he could only watch as the water traveled further, spreading out until it spread itself thin and seeped into the carpets and wooden floor. He tried to get up, but his limbs were weak. He fell, yet again.

He should have been doing something. He should be planning a rescue. Planning a counter-attack.

But he didn't.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to no one. Hoping that the one it was meant for would understand. Would forgive him for it.

For the second time.

"I'm _sorry_."

A loud sound was heard from inside the Captain-Commander's quarters.

Ukitake Jushiro stood clear out of _Ryujin Jakka's_ attacking range. But he heard the sound just fine.

"Yamamoto-dono..."

"Let's leave him be, for now," Shunsui patted him on his shoulder, tugging him away from the vicinity.

_It was like the last war, all over again, _Jushiro thought in concern.

* * *

It was as if a portal was opened to another world.

Inside was dark, but as he begrudgingly followed Aizen into the opening, he found that he could see everything clearly.

And then the pitch black was replaced, faded away into nothingness as a beautiful picture of a forest meadow took place. Renji almost jumped as he felt wisps of grass tickled his legs as he looked around in surprise. Was it all real?

"Where are we?"

Aizen smiled at the redhead's barely concealed wonder. "Curious, little songbird?"

Renji turned to glare at the tall brunet. "Stop calling me that you sick freak," he growled.

His eyes were distracted soon after, when a twinkling dandelion floated near his vision. All around him he observed as the plain meadow grew more and more real, tufts of dandelions and fragrant flowers sprouted from the grass, and as he looked up, the sky settled to a peaceful shade of baby blue, fluffy white clouds like cotton candy.

"My, must we work on that language first, perhaps?" he heard the former captain said in a teasing manner, something which disturbed Renji to great extent. He acted as if he didn't just abduct Renji for the sake of destroying the very fabric of Soul Society.

But Renji, dulled by his senses bombarded by amazement and wonder that grew all around him, simply snorted. "Stop talking like I'm a damn brat," he glowered, "just answer the question."

Aizen hummed in amusement at the redhead's continued blatant act of disregard for his situation. "I see that the awakening of your dormant consciousness dulled your sense of fear, Abarai."

As if a wakeup call, Renji paused his observation of the world continued to be built around him. He couldn't believe the _enemy_ had to remind him that he was in actual danger, just being in the same space as the former captain. Just because the brunet acted without malice, so far, didn't mean he would simply cast aside his main objective—to use Renji. A sinking feeling grew in his chest. The realization that he was extremely unguarded simply due to the other's lack of a physical threat at that moment gutted him. Where did all those shinigami trainings go? To constantly be on alert, even more so in the presence of an enemy? And boy was Aizen the biggest enemy that Renji had ever faced.

"We are in one of the pocket dimension within the _Hogyōku_," Aizen explained, noting that the redheaded lieutenant finally sobered from his distraction, however rightfully justified—it was indeed an incredible view, "in which time and space become irrelevant." _And reality warped, it would seem_, Renji added mentally, now gazing disinterestedly—warily—at his surroundings.

Aizen continued, much to Renji's expectation—the man used to be such a mentor figure, after all—old habits, he guessed. "I have done my share of... practice, with the orb. You can say that only I have the mastery of its abilities, and to manipulate the flow of time in this place. Even its very fabric of reality."

"That's very humble of you," the redhead said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

Aizen had the cajoling smile on his face again, "I don't like to mask the truth," he added, "as ironic as it sounds."

Out of nowhere, the beautiful meadow turned bleak. Baby blue sky turned grey as the temperature dropped to an uncomfortable degree. The trees rot away into tall, sharp structures, their dark points gleaming in the dull light. The flowers wilted away and the grass turned sharp.

Renji gasped as the spikes broke into the skin of his legs, piercing his flesh. A nerve must have been damaged, for his legs gave and he would have fallen to his death to those spikes if Aizen didn't catch his fall when he did.

_Strange_, he thought in the midst of pain, feeling thick wetness trickling down the skin of his legs, knowing it was his very own blood. He noticed that he found safety being near the brunet—the sharp spikes could not reach him, he realized. He tried to steady himself on his own feet, and finding him unable to do so—yet could not find it within him to panic or be horrified of the fact. A strange calm waved through his consciousness. _Were they laced with poison?_ he absently thought as he observed the steadily dribbling blood pouring out of his legs, red soaking his white garment, tainting it.

Aizen's honeyed voice reached him, heated breaths tickled the shell of his ear as the brunet whispered to him. "Know that only I can get you in and out of this dimension, Abarai-kun. I can make you wait... and wait _so long_—seconds would feel like years," he stroked the pliant redhead's cheek, "hours feel like centuries," and ran his thumb over the pink, dry lips, "your very perception deceiving you," finding his fingers on Renji's chin, tugging, "until you're losing your mind and _begging _for me to save you. To get you out."

"That you will do _anything_," he whispered close, his lips a hairbreadth away from the stunned lieutenant's, "for me to do so."

"You're sick," Renji breathed out in turn, his voice lax despite the hate-ridden words, and his eyes glazed. He was struggling to keep himself awake, aware_. Did he use a relaxant? _he mentally wondered, a tinge of worry in his muddled mind. A drug on top of his rapid blood loss would be dangerous, indeed.

"Not if you give me what I want," Aizen remarked offhandedly, casting a healing spell that let the redhead's blood clot faster. He couldn't have his prized possession standing in front of death's door that soon.

"Your _blessing_."

Renji blinked hazily, yet his voice couldn't hide his incredulous tone. "Are you daft?" he wondered aloud, eyes narrowed despite his weak psyche at that moment. "I can't _do_ that."

Aizen's eyes grew cold. He clenched his fingers tighter on the redhead's jaws. "And why," he murmured lowly, "is that?"

Renji finally found himself smirking in victory. "You will have to be worthy of it," _of me_, he thought.

Aizen let him go. The dangerous surrounding dispersed into pitch black once again. He fell to the ground due to his wounded legs. He feared that they would be permanent. That he would not be able to walk, to escape—

"We have got time," Aizen stated, his voice hard as a rock. He turned on his heels and exited through the portal the led them both into the dimension—the portal that seemed to appear out of nowhere from the darkness.

And left Renji alone in the other dimension.

It was dark.

* * *

\- _to be continued -_


	11. Chapter 11 - Stockholm

Chapter 11 – Stockholm

* * *

It must have been months.

Renji blinked lazily into the dark. He felt like his eyes should have adjusted by now, but all he could see was black. At one point he thought that maybe he had gotten blind. At one point he panicked to the point of hyperventilating, his heart constricting as his lungs struggled to regulate his breathing. At one point, he screamed. And screamed for what must have been hours. But all he could hear was his voice echoing back to him.

At least that meant he wasn't deaf. Because after that, after he stopped screaming with his hoarse voice, his throat felt like it was torn, and his breathing finally calmed. All he could hear was silence. And it _stretched_. It stretched so long, he thought he was dead and it was death itself whispering back at him.

In that long silence and darkness, his mind was slowly losing its grip. He tried to think of memories, he tried to talk to himself, to remind him that he was _alive_ and there were people that knew him. People that cared for him. People to return to. But it was hard. It was hard when he waited and waited for them to come—to get him back _because he couldn't do it_. Yet they didn't.

His friends. Rukia. Ichigo.

Captain Kuchiki.

His captain had been ever so obsessive about his well-being. His eyes when he first visited Renji in the _Muken_, the silent promise. The silent oath he took when he gripped Renji hands in his. His determination.

And for what?

Renji knew he was being vindictive. Somewhere inside his mind, he knew that it was probably Aizen's plan, to make him felt that way. To divide and conquer. He knew that, as Aizen had so graciously explained, this dimension was meant to tear his perceptions and senses to pieces. Deep in his mind, he knew all of those things to be true.

But it was shrouded and covered by a thick, _thick_ layer of hazy blankness.

And now all he could feel was the sting of feeling abandoned. And the dull ache on his legs. It felt like time had passed him by for a long time, yet those wounds still hadn't fully closed. He absently thought if they had become infected. That they would have to be amputated. The rush of dread and horror at the thought that should have been there, they never came. He just accepted it. _Take it_, he thought dazedly, _take my legs as everything else you took from me._ For whom that thought was supposed to be, he didn't know.

He just knew that they were listening.

* * *

A dark man clenched his fists tight. "He is crumbling," he whispered brokenly, watching the pitiful scene before him.

Another shifted uncomfortably, his eyes dark with unimaginable emotion.

"He is... enduring." He knew it was to convince himself more than anything.

* * *

The light speared through his eyes, making him groan in pain.

Renji shielded his sensitive eyes with his hands, to no avail. It seemed to tear through the layers of skin, flesh, and bones and seeped like a burning liquor into his irises.

"Where am I...?" he tried to feel around the space he was in, searching for support as he struggled to get up, his legs catching sheets of what felt like linens.

His legs! They were healed, a dull ache remained—but nothing he couldn't handle.

"Feeling better, little bird?"

At the sound of the dreaded voice, Renji paused his fumbling.

"Aizen," he stated quietly, more to himself than anyone else.

It wasn't a dream, after all...

His eyes slowly adjusted to the light that was taken from him for so long, and for the first time in what felt like hundreds of days, he took in his surroundings.

He was on a bed, western-made it would seem. It was overly large and lavishly decorated. Fluffy white linens lined the bed, and that would be the recurring theme in the room—white. White walls, white floors, white curtains, white _everything_.

It seemed like he was back in Hueco Mundo, if the white sands peeking from the curtains were of any indication. A gentle breeze blew the soft white curtains, and he relished in the feeling if for just a second before he finally settled his eyes on the elephant in the room.

He cautiously narrowed his eyes at the brunet who was silently observing him the whole time, instinct told him to shift away to the farthest corner of the room, and _out_ of that man's range, but he held his ground. He won't attack if the other guy didn't do anything to warrant that. _Yet_.

"If you think by being nice to me would change anything, you're wrong."

Aizen simply offered Renji a crooked smirk, "I wouldn't expect you to be so easily swayed either, Renji."

The redhead glared at how the other man addressed him as if they were 'friends'. "Don't call me that."

He tried to stand up, but as the covers slipped past his body, only then did he notice the state of his clothing—or lack thereof.

"What happened to my—"

"I took the liberty of changing your... soiled robes," Aizen started easily, eyeing how Renji seemed so suddenly _shy_, the silken white robe he put on the previously slumbering redhead slipped tighter around his body as he pulled it to cover any skin that showed through. He watched in almost disappointment when the last of the still so sickly pale skin was covered entirely in the garment.

"Don't be so alarmed, Abarai," the brunet reassured, "I didn't steal your virtue." _not yet_, he dared to think. After all, they had all the time in the world.

Quite literally. Since they were still in the _Hogyōku's_ inner dimension.

But Renji didn't need to know that.

All Renji needed to know was that he would feel disgusted by the dirty meaning behind Aizen's loose words, and he voiced it outright.

"I never said that you did, you sick perverted asshole," the redhead in question glowered. If he was not still feeling so lethargic, he would be swinging about _zabi—_

Zabimaru.

He didn't have _Zabimaru_ with him. Aizen purposefully left it behind when he took Renji. He was virtually both vulnerable and lack any means of offense. He was in a worse circumstance than he was before.

At Aizen's absolute mercy.

At least the one thing that the traitor wanted from him couldn't be gained by simply subjugating him physically. This, he could work with. He would need to play his cards carefully. He would need to keep his mental health strong, he would not fall into Aizen's manipulation. He would need to buy some time for the others to come.

A dark thought crept into his mind.

_If _they come.

"Language, Abarai-kun," Aizen's amused chiding torn him out of his thoughts, "I thought I beat it out of you when you were my subordinate."

Renji bristled at the mention of his past as the other's subordinate. How revolting it felt that he once served under that sick traitor. The same man who managed to break his friend until she couldn't function properly without him there. Like a broken doll longing for her master, the master who broke her in the first place. That was all the three traitors of Soul Society left, broken subordinates who they manipulated and twisted in such ways that they wouldn't be the same ever again. Wouldn't trust the same way again after being betrayed in the cruelest fashion.

"Don't ever bring that up," _not my past with you, asshole_. Not the one that Renji was never sure if he ever did any of Aizen's biding that ultimately made him able to reach his goals. Any of his missions and errands that involved dodgy requests that he never questioned out loud. How many of those, he sometimes wondered, that helped Aizen in the long run to fulfill his objectives?

And how many more would he do, now that he was subjected to the man's whims once again?

"It's only been one day," the subject of Renji's silent musing spoke, "I thought you might ask."

Renji looked up at that. He was visibly bewildered.

"I told you, time would work differently in the other dimension." What felt like months was actually just been one day in the real world.

When the light of understanding was visible in the redhead's eyes, Aizen finally took his leave.

"Rest easy, Abarai," he called from next to the only door that led to the room.

"You will be needing it."

_Not that you'll know any differently_, Aizen mused to himself.

* * *

He fought the brunet every time he came.

Yes, he was let out of that blasted dimension. And yes, he was steadily recovering from the menace's care. But that didn't make him any less of an evil man that needed to be brought down—especially now that his strength was recovering. He would wait for the others to come and fight together, but he wasn't a helpless damsel either. Instead of loitering around the closed-off room, waiting to be _rescued—_of all things!—he tried to fight his way out of it.

But then he was still not _free_. He could not get out of the room. Whatever few destructive _kido _spells that he knew—with the #33 being his favorite since he practiced with it most—could not seem to leave any visible damage on the door. And the curtains that were open before, was now closed. All things within the room seemed to be magically reinforced. It didn't surprise Renji, since Aizen was a master combatant _and_ a genius to boot, no matter how Renji refused to admit it.

And since he refused to admit the other's superiority in physical condition and overall strength, he fought.

Aizen didn't show mercy when he fought Renji. Well, 'fought' seemed like a strong word to use. With the redhead only having his weakening fists and kicks, useless _kido_ spells that seemed to do nothing to the other man, Renji was outrageously outmatched. Aizen didn't even need to raise his hands. The force of his _reiatsu_ alone could knock the redhead off his feet. But he was a gracious fighter and he wouldn't want to humiliate Renji by not even trying. So he fought.

And Renji usually ended up lying down on the floor, bruising all over—with the occasional broken bones and internal bleeding.

Aizen patched him up good, every time.

What threw Renji off the most was one thing. There were no signs of Aizen's followers since the first time he was brought there.

"Where are all your little cronies?" Renji once asked as he let Aizen wrapped his wrists with bandages, the bones just recently mended from their previous 'encounter', "hiding in their little caves?" he taunted.

It was surreal, he marveled to himself, how he would let the man who broke his body to even be anywhere near him, let alone to fix his bones. _Maybe I'm going mad_, he thought hysterically, ripping his still raw wrists from Aizen's healing hands, almost satisfied that he could get such a delightfully startled reaction out of the man. But disappointed at how fast the expression was replaced with amusement.

"They are free to do what they want in their free time," Aizen explained lightly, once again reaching for Renji's hands to inspect if the bandages were damaged from the sudden action the redhead did.

Renji moved out of the bed he was sitting on altogether, walking backward as he monitored Aizen's reaction to his aversion of the other's touch. He didn't know why he was doing this. He shouldn't piss the lion off when he was still bleeding from its previous assault on his person. But it was all he could do. Some semblance of fight left within him, that he could actually enact. A petty rebellion against his captor.

Just to show that he could.

To reassure himself that he was still... fighting.

_How childish._

"I thought you want to achieve your goal as soon as possible."

"I told you," Aizen sighed, striding to where the redhead was perched and coaxed him back to the bed, "we have got time," he finished vaguely. And he proceeded to heal the redhead once again. Who was, this time, quiet.

Renji fought the brunet every time he came.

And like any other time, he ended up lying on the floor, bruising all over.

But little by little, the wounds he would get started to be less fatal than the previous fights. Was it because of his recovering strength? Or Aizen taking mercy on him? Pity?

Was it because he gave in faster?

Gave in for less?

For days, weeks, months that felt like forever. He fought.

_Why wasn't anyone searching for me?_

Until he stopped.

* * *

Since then, moments that showed even a fraction of domesticity between them increased. Renji became more 'agreeable'. Aizen, in kind, became more attentive and less threatening. Glimpses of his past as a kind shinigami captain showed in their everyday occurrence, which grew increasingly often as he spent more and more time tending to Renji in his humongous room.

He would appear more mellow, he would share his thoughts on the most mundane matters, and he would bring his books with him to read while Renji would begrudgingly listen. He would bring his favorite chess set, which Renji would mock him for being interested in the game that was not traditionally Japanese.

"I appreciate the craftsmanship of the pieces," the brunet would smile fondly as he stroked a white queen piece. And he would offer to teach the redhead, which would then be blatantly refused.

Secretly, Renji would watch on as the brunet played the game for himself.

"I want to show you something," Aizen said on a quiet night, he was perched on a chaise where he was reading a book—Renji suspected it was a romance novel—when he abruptly stood up and gestured Renji to follow him.

The redhead, guarded and confused, tentatively followed the other as he was led _outside_ of the room.

For the first time in _months_.

"What...?" he trailed off as the brunet took his hands and guided him to a large window. The windows in his room were always closed off since his first awakening in the room, and the only light was from the artificial lighting placed. It was the first time he had the chance to look outside.

A chance to escape.

"Look, little bird," Aizen pointed at the view before them, "isn't it beautiful?" his eyes were expectant as he watched Renji peered out of the _open_ window, to the endless white sand and cloudless night sky.

A chance he didn't take.

"I thought there's no moon in Hueco Mundo," he muttered instead, dazedly watching the full moon glimmering bright as the sole light in the dark of the outside.

"It's an artificial ceiling," the brunet besides him explained, his hand not-so-subtly trailing down the redhead's loose mane, and found its way to curl around the other's body as if it belonged there. He felt the redhead stiffened under his touch, but didn't give it much thought.

Aizen dared to stroke his thumb on the soft fabric that covered the other's skin as he continued, "it can even turn to daylight if I so wish it."

And of course he could. He could manipulate everything they could see and feel in that dimension.

"Like your little 'dimension'."

The thumb that was mindlessly stroking Renji's clothed hip paused its movements.

"Indeed," Aizen murmured after a brief moment. And another moment later found his hand slack by his side again.

* * *

And then Renji was allowed out of the room more and more often. He wandered the halls of Las Noches, hoping to find at least one other person besides Aizen there. It was usually empty. But sometimes he would see glimpses of Ichimaru Gin turning around a corner or others from Aizen's little army. They would usually be gone by the time he rounded the corner to catch them.

Sometimes Aizen would accompany him, not that he didn't know the brunet would secretly follow Renji whenever he wandered around by himself. He wouldn't let Renji out of his sight, after all. Renji knew that.

Sometimes he would longingly stare at the open windows. Aizen saw this. So one day, a small feathered Hollow would 'accidentally' fly towards the windows, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier. Aizen would let out a sigh and lightly complain about a flock of Hollow 'birds' that would try to sneak into the castle, so he had to enforce the open windows with barriers.

And Renji would shift his eyes away.

He knew what Aizen was meant to say.

"You've got a kitchen in here?!" Renji exclaimed, excited eyes roaming across the huge area. Aizen smiled as he followed the redhead into the room. He expected it would be the redhead's reaction.

"I thought you're all monsters who eat other hollows," he commented in a teasing tone—a surprise, even to himself—as he inspected the immaculate kitchen filled with brand-new looking equipment and tools. They didn't look used at all, he thought as he inspected a metal pot and moved away to look at a beautiful set of knives. He dismissed the thought that, perhaps, Aizen built the kitchen for him.

"We're not all barbarians, Abarai," Aizen remarked in amusement, "at least I could say so for myself," he added.

"But it _is_ mostly unused space," the brunet continued, not mentioning the fact that the area was only 'built' a mere moment ago after he saw the sullen look Renji sported ever since the window 'incident'.

Renji hummed distractedly at Aizen's admission, it came to no surprise since the 'food'—if he could call it that—that had been given to him so far had always tasted bland. To his consolation, Aizen would eat the same food with him, as he would spend most of his time with Renji. He even suspected that the brunet was the one who attempted those dishes, with the lack of his helpers around.

"I see your passion for the kitchen remains the same," Aizen would comment, watching Renji rummaging through the ingredients stocked in the cupboards and even refrigerating blocks filled with exotic looking meats and vegetables, certainly 'Hueco Mundo delicacies'—if there ever were such things. While the Hollows may not eat normal food, the shinigami who took residence in Hueco Mundo certainly still needed their sustenance. A funny thought entered Renji's mind that they actually had to sneak foodstuff from other realms just to get by.

"It's not like I got anything to do," the redhead grumbled, "with you 'cooking' up your plans in that gnarly head of yours," he pointedly looked at the brunet. It was also an excuse to escape having to taste another one of that bland food ever again.

"Then you're free to use it however you like."

* * *

It was another one of those nights. When Aizen would take Renji out of his room and both would sit by an open window to gaze upon the artificial night sky. The cool breeze was real enough, and Aizen would often time offer Renji his white hakama, which the latter would refuse. The sense of longing that Renji had whenever he looked outside was not there anymore. He had given up hope to escape months ago. Instead, now he would fill his heads on ways to occupy himself within the vast halls of Las Noches.

"Aizen," Renji called the brunet, his eyes staring off into the dark night and white sand just out of reach. The thought of anybody from the outside coming for him was pushed at the back of his mind. He wouldn't dare to hope. If they were coming for him he would now it a long time ago. Sometimes he wondered if Inoue really was that much more important than himself.

Aizen hummed in distraction, he couldn't seem to take off his eyes from the breath-taking view that was Abarai Renji. Sure, the moonlight was imitation at best, but it still helped to bring out the ethereal glow from the redhead's vermillion tresses and the still ever so pale skin due to the lack of sunlight. He admitted that he missed the tanned, healthier coloring the redhead used to have, but then again now the pale contrasted starkly against the black ink covering his body. And it was a sight to see. The contrast of black and white against deep crimson was hypnotic.

"Why are you doing this?" the redhead wondered aloud. At first, Aizen couldn't understand what the other meant by his question, too deep into his appreciation of the sight before him. But after noticing the lack of response, Renji turned to look at the brunet.

"What do you really hope to gain from this?"

Oh.

Perhaps it was the time they spent together, and the sense of closeness that grew between them despite one being a prisoner while the other a mass murderer keen on destroying Soul Society. But little by little, the redhead grew bolder and started asking him the more difficult questions. This would be one of them.

"Call me Sousuke, little bird," he started. He had asked that of Renji numerous times before, some in jest and some in actual seriousness. Time and time again the redhead would refuse to even acknowledge he said anything, afraid of eliminating all barriers between them, perhaps. That was the one constant in their... companionship, he decided. He would give and offer the redhead something that he never even think of giving to anyone else, and the other would be quick to refuse and turn his head away.

But now the redhead let out a loud snort. "Then stop calling me 'little bird', it's creepy," he huffed, and sarcastically added, "I'm not 'little' _or_ a 'bird'." Which were both true, if they were being honest. He _was_ looking rather thin—his usually sculpted muscles disguising his 'bird bones' from others were gone, and all that—but he was in no way 'small'.

Aizen couldn't help but give him a crooked smile. "Of course, Renji." It was a start. He didn't outright reject the notion of calling Aizen by his given name.

But then hearing the brunet called him by his given name was not something that he expected, either. Somehow he felt his skin heating up, he hoped it was because of the blood warming him from the cold night, and nothing else. He was too grown to be blushing like a schoolgirl. And especially not for having his name called by Soul Society's ultimate enemy, at that.

_Sousuke_, he tested in his head, not daring to say the name out loud. It sounded so casual. Too intimate. It felt like he was cheating. Cheating on... who?

He was forced to pull himself together when the man beside him cleared his throat, his expression solemn. He looked unsure, as if contemplating whether to divulge his long-time secrets to another person.

"I want to," he hesitated, "I want to change the system."

_Now that's different._

Where was all the destructive, evil plan go? All the thousands he killed?

"You must have noticed by now," Aizen started, "how corrupt Soul Society really is. The fate of a soul determined by a bunch of old men who would rather fill their pockets and care of nothing but their own self-interests," he glowered in suppressed anger, disgust evident in his voice that Renji couldn't help but agree, "and the source of it all sitting in another world, comfortable in its crowning glory as it watches everything fall apart."

"If anyone is a monster," the brunet muttered darkly, "_it_ is."

Renji was quiet the whole time. He was earnest, that, Renji could see. And as much as he hated to say it, what the man said was nothing but true—at least from what he had been shown in his life as a shinigami. Sure, Rukia's execution was orchestrated by Aizen himself, but had he not witnessed many more of the same, grueling verdicts thrown about by the people he called the 'authorities'? They who would judge what transpired around them by merits that they themselves could reap, rather than what would benefit the society? They, who feared for their lives yet would proudly cower behind the backs of shinigami as they ordered the soldiers to protect them in the name of—

"You mean the Soul King, don't you?" Renji guessed. He had not personally seen how the Soul King looked like, the rumor said that he wasn't even a living being, but he knew enough that the Soul King's existence was pertinent to the balance of all existing realms. That without him all souls would be thrown into chaos.

"He keeps the flow of souls—"

"Whatever textbook definition they taught every single one of us is _inconsequential_," Aizen snapped unexpectedly.

"Then you want to," Renji paused, gulping, "you want to destroy him?"

"I want to _overthrow_ it," Aizen corrected, "it doesn't deserve its place as a _king_. It's merely a doll with purpose, a _tool._ What Soul Society needs is a King that would rule it fair and just."

Out of all the things Aizen had said, the fact that he kept mentioning the Soul _King _as an 'it' bothered Renji to no end.

He didn't know what Aizen knew, after all. He didn't see what Aizen had managed to take a glimpse at. The sheer repulsiveness of the _thing_ that was being kept in that higher dimension, a centerpiece, more than anything. And having to deem it 'worthy' of its title. As a ruler of his world. He wouldn't accept it.

"And you think you can do it?" the redhead asked again, his tone holding no hint of condescension, "replacing him, I mean?"

Aizen smiled at that. "I am simply a spark in the revolution, Renji," he explained, now holding a serene tone, replacing the grim and dark one he used before.

"I don't need that power. But if no one else would," he took a moment to breathe in sharply, as if preparing himself for his imminent future, his destiny, "then I will."

"Is that what the Hogyōku is for?" the thousands of souls and human lives you took, to create the innocent orb that held such monstrosity within?

"It is simply a means," Aizen admitted, knowing what Renji was implying, "a tool that makes it possible to reach the Soul King Palace."

Renji didn't know what to make of that.

Those souls... as a mere tool, huh?

* * *

Later on that night, Aizen held Renji in his arms, both seeking warmth from each other's body heat in the cold night. The redhead didn't seem to mind, his head too distracted with the information the brunet had given him. To say the least, the other shinigami had told Renji his real objective, not the evil narrative he spread for the world to see. He didn't know why the brunet would make such an image of himself, to be hated by the very people he wished to 'safe' if that ever was justified. Then again, Renji only had his words to go by, he wouldn't know if Aizen was lying, or it was all a part of his manipulation.

What he knew was that he now understood Aizen a little better.

And that thought scared him to bits.

On the other hand, Aizen was also silent. He stroked the redhead's hair as he stared at the artificial full moon. It was always his favorite, rather than the bright sunny sky. It defined beauty and serenity.

He didn't know what possessed him to tell Renji of his inner thoughts, something that even his right-hand man, Ichimaru Gin, never had the grace to hear. His intentions were less than noble, his selfishness urged him to take matters into his own hands, destroying things left and right for the goal he saw up ahead, regardless of what he broke on his way. While what he told Renji was what he wanted for Soul Society, he knew that the means that he took would never justify the end—his sins would never be forgiven. He was not stupid enough to not see that.

That he was a murderer.

But somewhere deep inside, he knew he wasn't always in the right state of mind. Somewhere deep inside, he knew he found joy in taking those lives. Watching the blood and carnage that he knew was all his doing. Seeing the horror in Hinamori's eyes as she watched his bloody body hanging on a building, and to traumatize her once and for all by betraying Soul Society and everything he ever taught her before her very eyes. Breaking her mind and heart in the process.

He knew he found joy in what sins he did, and never once did he regret them.

That was why he found solace in the redhead, now pliant in his arms. His mind would clear and all thoughts of carnage left him. All that left was peaceful surrender to the holy. His reverent fingers caressing the quiet _Seika_ as if asking for forgiveness of his sins. The holy being's body a shrine. An asylum from his psychotic thoughts.

Which was also the reason why he couldn't tell Renji that they were still in the Hogyōku's dimension.

He didn't want to.

He trapped the bird in the gilded cage, yet finding himself comfortable within that cage too. Finding peace in the sweet prison.

He held the dozing redhead tighter.

He was letting this illusion become his reality.

* * *

-_ to be continued -_


	12. Chapter 12 - Unholy

Chapter 12 – Unholy

* * *

Aizen Sousuke nearly stumbled as he stepped through a dark portal that seemed to open out of nothing, a swirling mass of black and remains of what used to be a picturesque looking fortress warping out of focus as they blitzed out to nothing.

"Ah, Aizen-san," Ichimaru Gin dully acknowledged, a lazy smirk on his foxy face as he waved the brunet to where he was slouching, "you're back."

Aizen looked up to the other man's direction, seemingly only noticing the other's presence in the vicinity. The twitch on his brow suggested that he was mildly taken aback by the appearance of the fox, but nothing else. At least it wasn't the rest of his _Espada_. But he recognized his lack of concentration by how he opened the portal without sensing out the _reiatsu_ of his followers within his vicinity.

"How many...?"

"About an hour," Ichimaru hummed, mockingly counting on his fingers as he turned his face up in an exaggerated display of 'thinking'. Despite his well-known position being beneath that of one Aizen Sousuke—as was every one of his followers—the foxy man never failed to irritate Aizen every chance he had.

However, the man's admission did cause Aizen to actually stumble on his steps. Only one hour...?

"What is it, Aizen-san?" the white-haired shinigami asked, a sliver of actual concern in his voice as he watched his leader frown, his pallid skin was ashen, "you managed to break him just yet?"

Aizen almost flinched at the undignified words. While he may have spent his life breaking bones and tearing limbs and flesh, destroying minds and lives with his powers, it was the first time in _months_ that he thought about breaking someone.

_Months_?

No. He just broke Hitsugaya Toshiro's scant a few days ago, when he made him hurt the one person the child prodigy ever care for—sweet little Hinamori. Just got back from her wandering mind after left to fend for herself by him, only to be torn apart by her own family—at least, that was what she told Aizen; only her, 'Shiro-kun' and granny. That was enough for her. Until Aizen came into the picture.

No. It had only been a few days before that he broke bones and flesh, tear minds apart. But it seemed like it had been _months. _ And he felt revulsion knowing that Ichimaru implied that he broke the person he had been caring for in those 'seemed-like-months' period of his life. The person that brought him peace, even temporarily—an hour. An hour that _stretched_.

Ichimaru narrowed his eyes at the brunet's lack of response, "Aizen-san?"

"It is stronger than I expected," the brunet muttered under his breath. He looked for a place to rest his tired limbs and found solace in a little nook by the open window overlooking Hueco Mundo's moonless sky—he comforted in the fact that it was, since he wouldn't be able to tell realities apart if it didn't. Then again, the very sight of endless white sand and the familiar arch of the open window reminiscent of his time with the vermillion haired deity now residing within his treasured orb. It was like having a genie in a lamp. The thought of owning the redhead trapped inside the orb sent shivers down his spine.

_Mine. _

_Forever mine. _

"The _Seika_?" Ichimaru's continued inquiries irritated him, but at least it snapped him out of his deranged possessive thoughts. He was never so obsessive over something—other than the orb he had been struggling to complete. But it was to gain something even more precious—a glorious revolution. But Renji...

His very existence ripped apart Aizen's state of mind, replacing it with something that he found was _him_, but not what he was portraying himself to be—what he wanted the world to see him as—a man. A simple, ordinary man with simple, ordinary wants. A man who enjoyed the smallest pleasures in life, and found comfort in the warm embrace of a lover. A man that would do anything to make said lover smile, to see that twinkle of mirth as he tried to make the other laugh with whatever means—even something as embarrassing as attempting to cook and fail miserably, painting his face with black ink because he found it was funny that we can taint papers with the dark ink but seldom our own face. To be flawed because it was charming.

To be kissing his lover's forehead reverently, tucking the vermillion strands behind his slumbering treasure's ears as he watched the other drifted to sleep in his arms. Marveling at the other's illusory beauty as the fluttering lashes would touch the other's cheeks, warm breaths puffing on his neck and the most innocent act of curling into his arms that made him whimper in adoration.

Oh, how the happiest moments of his life were spent on an _hour_ inside a world that could never be his reality. How potent it was, the toxin that tasted like the elixir of life, the forbidden fruit that showed him what his reality could be, but never would. A reality where his lover understood what he was—_who_ he was. To his core, left bare and vulnerable.

"The Hogyōku's illusions," Aizen finally breathed, life sucked out of him—a life that was never his. While Renji seemed to be neutral in his stance now that he knew what Aizen was aiming, he wondered if that was only the redhead's way to keep the illusion of their peaceful days alive.

He wondered if the holy being knew of his illusions, but chose to ignore it in favor of being with Aizen. He would like to think that way. He need not any other possibility—especially ones where Renji truly and completely succumbed to his illusions and found that his feelings were not real, after all. He was not sure he could take it. Yes, he was being selfish. He was cruel. He wanted everything yet unwilling to take real action for it, instead choosing to keep in within his closed-off dimension of dream-like reality, selfishly wishing to never leave yet wanting his... less virtuous ambitions to be fruitful meanwhile. To have it both ways. To have his cake and eat it.

He was a coward. A dirty, greedy, _vile_ coward.

When he tried to speak again, barely a syllable left his mouth before he felt the oppressing power that made him tremble to his core. He closed his eyes, knowing what it meant, fearing that he wasn't ready—_I still haven't heard those three words, I still haven't tasted that sweet essence, to kneel and worship my go—_

A chunk of Las Noches giant walls was destroyed before his very eyes, the structure not able to withhold the tremendous amount of _reiatsu_ that seemed to oppress everything into the ground.

Besides him, Ichimaru Gin grunted as he grabbed on to the cold white stone wall for support, his already pale skin made as white as his robe, cold sweat drenched his garments as he sent his _reiatsu_ out to monitor the area surrounding the fortress. Some of the _Espada_ seemed to be on the move—albeit struggling, sensing whatever dangerous _reiatsu_ that suddenly showed out of nowhere.

"They're back?" the fox-faced man's voice sounded weak even to his own ears, the words mushed together as he struggled to stay upright with the gravity that seemed to pull him to the ground and drilled him meters below it. Even Aizen seemed to be breathless.

The fact that it was a very familiar _reiatsu_ shook Ichimaru—glimpses of a thousand white petals that swirled in a deathly dance flashed through his mind. Whatever happened to the owner of said _reiatsu_, it would not mean any good news for them.

"I must go in again," the _Espada_ leader rumbled lowly, his voice dangerous but his eyes were filled with anxious excitement. It was now or never.

"Aizen-san, it will take a toll out of your _reiatsu_," Ichimaru insisted even as he struggled to remain conscious, and he thought that he didn't want to be left alone to face the deathly rampage a certain raven-haired noble would bring to Hueco Mundo—after all of the _Espada_ could safely be said out of commission, he knew they wouldn't be able to take even the initial brunt of the first attack. The fact that a certain irritating substitute's _reiatsu_ lingered and mixed along with the larger than life monstrosity of deathly aura didn't ease his mind.

"How long have you stretch the time in there? A month?" he continued, watching as Aizen readied another portal to be opened. A glance to his left found Tosen Kaname struggling to approach the duo. He wouldn't have time to appease the blind man.

"Seven," was the simple answer that the white-haired shinigami got before Aizen stepped into the other dimension, once again.

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo struggled to keep up with Kuchiki Byakuya as he created a pathway using his tightly controlled _reiatsu _piercing across the dark surrounding they were in.

"Are you sure we shouldn't tell the others about this?" he shouted at the man running a bit farther in front of him, an odd sight to see one Kuchiki Byakuya actually running instead of using flash steps to get from one point to another.

"I have notified the other captains of my absence," the Kuchiki noble simply said, his voice not at all indicating that he was out of breath—which he wasn't.

Truly, something must have gotten into the Kuchiki, Ichigo couldn't help but wonder.

His violent outbursts and disregard of public safety mere hours ago was proof that something was going on that Ichigo didn't understand. Ichigo couldn't help but question whether the Kuchiki was in a sound state of mind. And his fluctuating, borderline dangerous _reiatsu_ explosions didn't seem like it was a normal occurrence, either.

Sure, Ichigo knew how short-tempered and easily challenged the Kuchiki captain actually was behind his stone-cold mask, but try as he might, he couldn't stop comparing the Kuchiki's powers to his own. He was not blind to see that his shinigami prowess was far above that of a normal captain, he knew that he could take on much more than a normal shinigami would. And he was often comforted by the fact that Kuchiki Byakuya, despite his scary demeanor, was never an actual concern to him since their first fight. One, because they were reluctant allies. And two? Two, because he knew, ever so slightly, that he held an edge over the Kuchiki ever since.

But now?

The white _reiatsu_ aura that Byakuya was emitting was stronger than ever, that Ichigo had to actually _keep_ his distance if he didn't want to be subdued by the sheer pressure, and that was already painfully suppressed by the Kuchiki himself after Ichigo notified him of that fact.

He couldn't help but feel miffed.

It was petty, not to mention childish—Renji's rescue should be at the forefront of his mind. But he disdainfully hoped that there would be a tangible explanation of how the situation could be.

Because honestly, Ichigo never liked to play side-kick.

"I didn't know you have it in you, Byakuya," the orange-haired substitute finally shouted back, trying to get a rise out of the tightly-reigned Kuchiki.

"Do not get in my way," was the answer that he got, a growl, "Aizen is _mine_."

Ichigo huffed. "Get in line, asshole," he grumbled.

A bright dot was visible in front of them and was getting bigger and bigger until they were forced to jump out of the dark space and into another realm—Hueco Mundo.

"We are here," Byakuya announced, immediately spanning his _reiatsu_ across the visible realm, a crumbling mess of Las Noches not far ahead—searching for Renji's own.

His nose flared when all he could feel were the blasted Hollows and Aizen's little followers—the indication of Aizen's flittering _reiatsu_ was still lost on him right now.

He couldn't feel Renji's _reiatsu_.

He exploded.

"Oh shit!" Ichigo cursed as he flash-stepped to a reasonable distance but still got caught up in the massive outburst, only to be sent flying a hundred meters away.

* * *

"Aizen? Is that you?"

Renji snorted at his silly question. "Well of course it's you, it's not like there's anyone else in this giant fortress," he smiled as he approached the haggard-looking man walking to his side. He was sitting on a high-backed chair, reading whatever book Aizen left around, one of his hands loosely clutching a white king piece from Aizen's favorite chess set.

"Renji," Aizen sighed. "What did I tell you?" he smirked that lopsided smirk Renji adored, tucking a loose strand of red hair behind the other's ear. It was long, before, but now... now it reached just under the red-hair's bottom.

And he loved that Renji never seemed to use the blasted elastics or hairbands and tie his hair up so high that they resembled a pineapple top, anymore. Then again, Sousuke remembered that Renji used to have such coarse hair—maybe his time in the Sixth as Byakuya's lieutenant this good to educate the man on proper hair care. He loved playing with the fine tresses, running his fingers through them, or simply tucking them behind the other's ear seemed so intimate. More than any cold embrace from a paid worker ever could—this, he knew very well.

"Okay, okay," Renji laughed in surrender, Sousuke's fingers tickling his ear as they trailed down to his collarbone, "Sousuke." The brunet shivered.

So unassuming. Innocent.

Deceivable.

"What is it?" Renji asked, a hint of worry in his tone as he ushered the other to sit on the bed. It had only been an hour since the brunet left—he said something about a meeting with his followers, something that Renji never questioned anymore—yet he looked as if he ran a marathon twice.

"Remember what I told you," Sousuke gulped, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to ask of the redhead after so _long_, "about starting a revolution?"

Renji frowned, the topic was never discussed after the first time Sousuke bared his thoughts on it. It was never something that appealed Renji. Sure, he more or less accepted it as Sousuke's main goal, but he never explicitly said that he would support it. His actions were still unforgivable by the law, and his goal was a crime in itself, no matter how justified it seemed when the words tumbled out of the brunet's honest mouth that night. So the only thing he could do what to let out a non-committal hum as he stroked the other's back in a semblance of comfort—he seemed to need it, more than anything else. He looked worn.

What did he do at the so-called 'meeting', anyway?

"I am starting it now," the words slipped out of Sousuke's mouth before he could think about it.

Renji paused his soothing ministration at Sousuke's words. His frown grew deeper. "Now?"

_Why now? Why so sudden? Why—_

"I need you, Renji," the brunet's large hands seemed to cover Renji's long, slender ones—they were quite filled and meaty, once, and he wondered where did all the food he went through in his time with Sousuke go. He didn't seem to gain any of his previous 'meat' and muscles. Then again, he never bothered to exercise to develop those unnecessary burdens on his body, anymore.

He couldn't care less of what Zaraki Kenpachi would think if he saw Renji later, not that he thought he ever will. Renji was staying there forever, after all. With Sousuke. He didn't know why he was thinking all these unrelated, ridiculous notions when Sousuke just revealed something big. Maybe he just didn't want to think about it. Maybe he just wished that Sousuke wouldn't ask him of—

"I need your blessing."

"Sousuke..." Renji exhaled weakly. All energy left him as he tried and failed to look at Sousuke in the eyes. He didn't notice the brunet's trembling frame until he slipped from the bed, and dropping to the ground.

"Sousuke!" the red-hair exclaimed in worry, he scrambled to pick the heavy body up from the ground. "What's wrong?" _Stupid question._

The brunet's laugh was shaky at best. He put a clammy hand on top of Renji's supporting ones, "it's not—" he winced and grabbed at his chest. His ashen fingers gripped at the material as if trying to pull whatever harmful object was lodged in his chest, hurting him.

It seemed to him that his _reiatsu_ was running on its last legs, taking his life-sustaining energy to boost its power to maintain the 'reality'. He wouldn't be able to maintain the illusion anymore if it kept going. The _Hogyōku_ was a destructive mass of energy now swirling in his body, unaccepting that its host was weakening before its very presence. He would be forced on relying on the orb sooner than he expected.

He didn't want Renji to see it, more than anything else.

Renji was about to try to pull Sousuke off the ground once again, and to the bed, when the unthinkable happened before his very eyes.

* * *

"What is this," he voiced, barely a whisper—or maybe he simply couldn't make it any louder, his air supply cut from his lungs as he watched his surroundings twisted and morphed. The simple yet beautiful room melted away and liquid darkness seeped into the picture.

"No," he whimpered, his eyes impossibly wide in horror, his hands still hadn't left Sousuke's body as he whipped his head around him, willing it not to be true. "_No_." Sousuke flinched on his crumpled state at the distraught tone, Renji finally took his hands, and his _everything_ away from the brunet now lying on a pitch-black surface.

The _Hogyōku_ seemed to calm somewhat, now that Sousuke released all the intricate illusions he maintained within its dimension, some of the _reiatsu_ he used to manifest matter into the dimension returning to him.

He picked himself up slowly, not taking chances. He called to the redhead, who seemed to be curling into himself. He could see his shoulders shook erratically, which he stilled with his hands in an act of assurance.

"_You," _the redhead suddenly spoke, his voice eerily calm, gripping the hands on his shoulders in an unusually tight grip,_ "this whole time."_

"You must understand, Renji," Sousuke started, his voice calm despite his internal conflict. How would he remedy this?

"It was all necessary. Remember what I told you, little bird? We needed this dimension so that I can—"

"Manipulate me."

"Make me feel things I wouldn't have," Renji continued viciously, striking the nerves, Sousuke's fear that the redhead's feelings were all a product of his imagination. A product of his illusion.

"No," he denied vehemently, "no, Renji, _please_."

He refused to acknowledge that. What he felt was genuine. What Renji was to him, in that tiny dimension that he weaved like an intricate web of deception was nothing but _real_. He couldn't, he _knew_, he couldn't manipulate feelings. He couldn't simply change one's emotions, so it had to be real. _It had to be. _

_Renji loves me. _

The fact that disillusioned perceptions could alter one's thoughts and sentiments overtime was far removed from his cognitive thoughts. It was not important. Because what Renji felt was real.

"It's not just you," he admitted softly, searching for the other's eyes. He was baring his soul, his everything to the redhead. He would make sure the other knew that he was not disingenuous. He even had a few glistening beads of tears threatening to fall off his eyes. Were they real tears?

_Of course they are. _

_I love Renji. _

"I need you."

_I need you, Renji. I need your powers._

_Powers?_

_._

_._

_._

_No. I love Renji. _

"Your blessing," he tried again, reaching for the redhead who moved away, "to start a spark in this revolution."

_I need you by my side, Renji._

_I love you. _

_Your **powers**._

Aizen shook his head harshly, surprising Renji. _No!_

"We haven't much time, little bird," he pressed out in frustration, running his fingers through his hair harshly, a few strands of hair fell off due to the force. His eyes were manic but he didn't notice how the redhead was flinching away from his advances.

Renji was growing more and more worried over his well-being in the compressed space he was in, knowing that he was alone with a man slowly descending into madness who was also his only means of escape.

_Renji loves me. _

"Why?" the redhead finally whispered.

_Renji loves me...?_

"You can stretch the time for as long as you want, can't you?"

_Renji, what are you saying?_

"No," Renji shook his head, an ugly sneer twisted darkly on the beloved face of Aizen's dearest.

_Renji why do you look like that? _

_You are supposed to be holy. My god. My savior. _

_Mine. _

"The Hogyōku demands much from you, doesn't it? And now," the redhead stutteringly breathed, "you need me to give you my _blessing_ because you're running out. And someone is coming for you, aren't they?" _If not, why are you in such hurry, Sousuke?_

Aizen staggered back. He was horrified at what his little bird was saying. Lies and deception unworthy of such a holy mouth.

_Renji, stop this. _

"Who?" the _Seika_ pressed.

"Renji we don't have time for this," Aizen's voice trembled.

"It's my captain, isn't it?" the redhead's voice, no matter how much Aizen wanted to deny it, held a glimmer of hopefulness that should only be there when he was talking to Aizen about their next meal together _forever in their little paradise._

Oh.

Aizen's eyes went blank for a moment. That man.

Kuchiki Byakuya.

'_My captain', is it?_

_Is that so, Renji?_

"I can't give you my blessing, Sousuke," Renji stated in his cold, cruel voice, "not as long as you are clouded with the Hogyōku's cursed powers," the redhead shook his head once again, spouting _lies_ that Aizen wouldn't want to hear from the deity's mouth.

_Is that what it is?_

Green, ugly spikes of jealousy stabbed him. How dare he thought of that man when Aizen was there with him? When Aizen was there to care for him and love him and gave him everything he could ever wish for.

_You are not my god. My savior._

"Not as long as you wished to use it to kill those who are dear to me," the redhaired demon continued on mercilessly, ignoring Aizen's stilling figure for a continuous onslaught of sharp words that tore apart his trust.

_You don't love me._

_Who gave you my life force, who comforted you, who knew you better than even _him_, who loved you. _

_You love him?_

"Am I not dear to you, Renji?"

Aizen smiled. He looked at the red hair standing before him with newfound awe.

"You are just like everybody else, aren't you?" he commented offhandedly, whatever was holding him still before had let him go, "I was prepared to give you _everything_... and it's not enough for you," he marveled, his pupils dilating as his smiles grew wider and wider. He was used to people letting him down. He didn't in his life expected the same treatment from such a holy entity, but it was fine. It was fine.

_Fine. _

There was nothing left for him there. He supposed it was time that he moved on with his plans. The _Seika_ proved to be useless to him, after all. If the wretched, so-called 'holy' being wouldn't help him accomplish his noble goal, then he was the enemy of Aizen's justice.

And all of Aizen's enemies must be crushed.

He held his arms wide and felt the wisps of dark power coursing through his entire being, pulsating from his chest and slithering through his veins.

Renji's eyes grew in horror at the state of the man in front of him.

It was not Aizen Sousuke, anymore.

Dark tendrils sprouted from where a gaping hole was found in the creature's chest, the hole caving wider and wider, a dark, gaping maw. And from within, a slick, black orb gleaming from the liquid darkness.

The creature spoke, as it was transforming, it's voice reverberating throughout the dark space they were in. It's _reiatsu_ violent and dark and _evil_.

"**So be it.**"

_I did this_, Renji thought torturously.

_I _loved_ you, Renji._

* * *

\- _to be continued _-


	13. Chapter 13 - Rescue

Chapter 13 – Rescue

* * *

"Captain Kyoraku, please."

Shunsui Kyoraku was a simple man. He loved simple things and he brought down everything to his simple standards. If something was not supposed to go a certain way, he would do his best to prevent it from happening. Sometimes things get out of hand, like their situation right now.

But boy, was he weak to a woman's tears. And the young woman sitting on a hospital bed before him, white hospital gown making her seem more fragile than ever, would be the death of him.

He tried his best to appease her none the less. "Kuchiki, don't—"

"You have just recovered, Kuchiki-san, please mind your health," Unohana Retsu cut off, "your brother would not want you hurt."

Yeah, she was better at it than him, anyway. He wasn't needed in the scene. Why was he there in the first place, anyway?

"_Kyoraku, would you check on Kuchiki in the Fourth for me? I promised Byakuya to keep an eye on her, but you know—" a series of increasingly worsening coughing fit occurred. _

"_Yeah, yeah, Ukitake. You rest well now, I'm gonna go check on her." _

Right.

"My _brother_ is too busy chasing that _vile piece of shit_ to know!" Kuchiki Rukia's sharp tone caught his ears. Unbeknownst to him, the tension in the room had increased tenfold. The young Kuchiki was glaring stubbornly at Unohana, the Fourth Captain's own mien calm and patient, a quality all Fourth Division's shinigami seem to possess. Well, maybe not for a certain clumsy seventh seat.

"I meant Lieutenant Abarai, Kuchiki-san," Retsu continued gently, coaxing understanding from Rukia's now deflating frustration.

She herself was handling multiple tasks at once—there were still many of the severely injured in her division's care, and she really didn't have time to linger in Kuchiki Rukia's room any more than she already did—there were others that needed her expertise more than the recovering girl. The fact that the young Kuchiki before her was more trouble being left to her own devices than not, was the only reason for her stay.

And also the fact that Shunsui Kyoraku might just lit the Kuchiki's stubborn determination even more being left with her alone, being a straight-forward man that he was. She wanted Ukitake to rest and get better at a leisurely pace, yes, but she wished he was there to calm the raven-haired girl himself. While Kyoraku was left mostly in charge since the Captain-Commander was currently... out of commission, he was not nearly as strict as the position demanded. It was still surreal to her that it had only been over a week since their battle with Aizen.

After making sure that Kuchiki Rukia was not leaving her room and not trying to access Kurotsuchi Mayuri's newly acquired _Garganta_ portal to 'help' the rescue team in finding Abarai Renji—he was still sorely upset about the break-in just hours ago—Retsu turned to leave when loud shouting and hasty paces approached the room.

"_I just gotta talk to Captain Kyoraku!" _a young man's loud yell could be heard amongst the bustling down the corridor outside of Kuchiki Rukia's room.

It quieted down a bit when several voices—Kotetsu Isane being one of them—tried to explain something in a more toned-down voice, but a loud slam on a wooden material—a desk, most likely—followed soon after.

"_I _saw_ him entering this place, don't tell me he's not here!"_

"_Get off—_where is he_?" _the young man's voice grew louder as he approached nearer, several footsteps followed—it was the nurse desk just several meters away from the room.

"_J-just over th-there..." _a timid voice, probably the new girl, trembled, and then a firmer voice, "_sir, wait! You're not supposed to—"_

"What's all that commotion?" Shunsui frowned—hearing what the person said about wanting to see him and wondering why—walking to see what was going on just behind the closed door when it burst open in his face.

From the door stood a heavily panting Rikichi who was being held restrain by a few struggling Fourth Squad guards, a panicked Kotetsu Isane followed just behind, hastily explaining the situation to the bewildered room occupants.

The young shinigami looked positively ragged, his uniform crumpled from struggling out of the guards, his eyes wild and his nostrils flared in a rampant adrenaline rush. It must have been, because there was no way Rikichi was brave—_stupid_—enough to ignore direct order from the Fourth Division's lieutenant—not that she was hard to disobey in the first place, being so mild-mannered that she was—and even bursting into a room filled with two of the oldest captains in Gotei 13.

"Captain! Captain, please let me go with the scouts' team!" Rikichi shouted determinedly, looking straight into Kyoraku's eyes—which, really it was _so _inappropriate at the time, but Kyoraku could appreciate the young man's balls—and ignoring the vice-like grips he had around his limbs.

But that got Kyoraku thinking.

What scouts team?

"Rikichi," Rukia started, finding comfort that she was not the only one who wished to go, but unsure if she wanted the young shinigami to plow his way out and jeopardized his entire shinigami career with her. He had so much potential, and Renji cared for him. Surely he wouldn't like his only apprentice to risk his life for the redhead?

It was hypocritical and entirely selfish of her, she knew that Renji wouldn't want her to endanger herself if he could help it and that he cared for her wellbeing most of all. But...

"There is a lot that you don't tell the rest of us," Rikichi said quietly, whatever bravado surging his veins seemed to drain out of his system, "but I don't care about that. Just..."

"Just tell me that Renji-san is not dead," he pleaded, looking at both Captain Kyoraku and Captain Unohana with fear in his eyes—not for him.

Rikichi knew that his lieutenant was not simply 'missing', no. He wasn't even around for the last few months due to his so-called 'mission' in the Material World, and even that he wasn't so sure about anymore. There were things that the higher-ups were not sharing with the rest of the shinigami, and he just knew that Abarai Renji was somehow involved—deeply.

After doing a post-battle head-count of his division's shinigami, accounting all those who had fallen, those who were severely injured and had to be hospitalized for a prolonged period of time in the Fourth Division, he was down to the missing lieutenant. He was not made aware of the lieutenant's whereabouts from before and until the end of the battle, hadn't seen him in the Fake Karakura Town battle and hadn't noticed the bright red mane as the Hueco Mundo team arrived with a slightly crumpled Kuchiki Byakuya.

What he noticed though, was that look both his captain and the Captain-Commander shared before they both disappeared into god-knows-where. Only to come back pale as a ghost and looked like the just fought a more grueling battle than the one that happened mere hours ago. An emergency captain's meeting was held, and then everything was as hush-hush as it was before.

A vague announcement was given two days ago—those who went MIA, those who had fallen honorably, a few wise words meant to encourage the battle-worn shinigami, that it was only the beginning—by Captain Kyoraku. Yamamoto Genryuusai was nowhere to be found. The Gotei 13 was not in order, Aizen was still on the loose, and Lieutenant Abarai Renji was nowhere to be found.

"Just like the announcement a couple of days ago, Lieutenant Abarai Renji is currently missing in action," Kyoraku calmly explained, another vague attempt at diversion, then added a glimmer of truth to offset the lie, "Captain Kuchiki and Kurosaki Ichigo is currently in a search and rescue mission to find him."

It wasn't technically a 'mission' that was 'ordered' to them, as much as the Kuchiki practically tore through Kurotsuchi Mayuri's lab and illegally used his acquired portal with Kurosaki Ichigo tagging along not unlike a leech on his back.

"There's no need to stretch our manpower even more," Shunsui added for good measure. The security in Seireitei was already bad as it was, he honestly didn't know which source the young man got that told him they were assembling a scouts team. They needed all the available forces they can get. The fact that two of their best defense left them was already a major loss.

The grapevine in Seireitei was usually top-notch and uncomfortably accurate, the words of both the Sixth Division captain and the substitute shinigami breaking in—_forcefully_—into the Twelfth Division should have been circulating by now.

Someone must be controlling the behind the scenes of these rumors, Kyoraku decided. Cherry-picking which one can be leaked and which should remain behind closed doors. Not that he wasn't grateful, but this particular rumor of a 'scouts team' to rescue Abarai was not good news when it concerned the redhead's infamous devoted followers. He could feel the headache coming at the thought of numerous other 'Abarai devotees' barging into this room or his office, demanding a spot in the nonexistent team since he was currently in charge of the Gotei 13.

_Why can't it be Retsu?_ he grumbled in his head. It was harder than it looked to run an active military organization after an all-out war that left their defenses in shambles and the soldiers mostly out of commission, with their commander-in-chief currently... inactive.

Rikichi, while shocked at hearing the news that his captain and Kurosaki Ichigo was on the hunt for his mentor's location, stubbornly insisted his 'perfectly reasonable' wish to join them, "but it's only the two of them—"

"Trust me, Rikichi," Shunsui interrupted loudly, sighing and looked at the young shinigami's eyes "Kuchiki," and pointedly stared down the young girl half-standing beside her bed.

"They are more than enough."

There were definitely things that he was keeping secrets.

* * *

"A little warning next time you try to blow us all up to pieces, asshole!"

"Quiet, Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya shushed the grumbling orange-head who was dusting his robes from the sand sticking all over the nooks and crannies of the garment, resigning himself to bear with the particles sticking a little... deeper.

"Renji is not here."

That got Ichigo perking up from his busy dusting, realizing that the Kuchiki was actually sensing for _reiatsu_'s in the vicinity. He concentrated and tried to feel around the area. Aside from the rapidly approaching _Espada_—that Byakuya seemed to not pay attention to at all—he sensed only the two ex-captains following Aizen in the crumbling Las Noches.

"And that bastard Aizen is also not here," Ichigo growled, frowning. If everyone was there, where did Aizen go to? And he took Renji with him. A bad thought that they were never there in the first place crossed his mind. That the two were actually somewhere entirely different, not even in Hueco Mundo altogether.

Byakuya's "no" caught his attention, once again. He was slowly readying himself for the combat that was bound to happen in the next few moments.

"He was," the raven had the grace to explain his curt reply, "but his _reiatsu_ blinked out of existence mere moments ago."

"How the hell did he do that?"

Byakuya was racking his brain for possibilities, what could Aizen do in such a short few days, what would he use, his resources.

_He couldn't be dead. Then it must be..._

The _Hōgyoku_.

Obviously. There must be powers that even Urahara Kisuke didn't know of as one of the creators of the strange, cursed orb. Was space manipulation even possible? Was the orb really that powerful?

"My assumption is that he teleported into a different location or realm," he settled. Byakuya was not one to draw hasty conclusions, but that was the most probable possibility that he could come up with, since aside from Aizen's swift death scant a few moments ago—which was terribly improbable given his trifle with the blasted orb.

Ichigo raised his brows, "how can he—"

They didn't have time for idle chatter, however, because what was left of Aizen's _Espada_ just showed themselves.

"We've got company."

No shit.

_This is gonna be a rough fight_, Ichigo grimly thought as he drew _Zangetsu_ and activated his _Bankai_.

* * *

"They are, no. _He_ is... tearing them apart," Ichimaru Gin awed as he watched the battle in the distance.

Barragan Louisenbairn, Coyote Starrk, and Tier Harribel were all that was left of Aizen's _Espada_, the three highest-ranking officers on par with the oldest shinigami captains. The others were either disgracefully defeated or missing in action—all of which Aizen had no care about. He didn't have the time to tend to the weaklings in his ranks. Even the infamous _Cuatro Espada_, Ulquiorra Cifer, was defeated by Kurosaki Ichigo, the Ryoka boy.

And now, Gin would think that the three strongest _Espada_ would be enough to at least stave off Kurosaki Ichigo's attacks—the threat that all of Aizen's followers agreed to be much bigger than the currently active shinigami captains—just below the three senior captains and the Captain-Commander, obviously.

That Kuchiki Byakuya suddenly appeared and stomped on every single one of them with ease never occurred to him—not before that very moment, as his eyes glued to the grueling yet fascinating sight before him. It was like watching a train-wreck—inevitable, you can't take your eyes off it.

Gin suspected that it was not even his _Bankai_, what with the Kuchiki still holding and swinging around the hilt of his _Senbonzakura_, blasts of petal-like blades surrounding the area around him, controlled and graceful like water, yet deadly.

A more pathetic sight—to him—was to see that Kurosaki Ichigo was not even anywhere near the main battle, fighting off whatever was left of the _Fraccións _and _Números_ still loyal to the _Espada_ and Aizen.

Besides him, Tosen Kaname could be seen concentrating to sense the _reiatsu_ fluctuation to basically 'see' the battle just some distance away from the fortress.

Kaname never thought that he would 'see' the day that Kuchiki Byakuya would loose his tightly reined control like what he was doing that day. The Kuchiki's _reiatsu_ control was so fine that for the longest time, he thought that the raven-haired captain never was anything special—a cold and straight-laced officer with boring worldview—until he saw him fight a real battle with some _Menos Grande_ several decades ago, along the same time Kaname found out that the noble lost his wife.

But never would he thought the control was to this extent—that he outmatched the teenager Aizen was so interested in the last few months—and made him look like a third seat officer at best.

It was a blow to their pride, that Kuchiki Byakuya could handle _three_ of the best _Espada_ all by himself in _Shikai_, yet it was terrifying more than anything else.

"Is that truly Kuchiki Byakuya?" the sightless man awed, a mixture of disbelief and fearful admiration evident in his heavy voice.

"Indeed," Aizen Sousuke's voice was heard several steps behind the two former captains, who swiftly turned to face their leader.

"Aizen-san," Gin raised his brows in surprise.

The man before him was their leader, but not quite.

Gone was the deceivingly warm brown eyes, replaced by purple sclerae surrounding icy white orbs of a monster. His hair was noticeably longer, reaching the back of his knees and his utilitarian uniform replaced with a more streamlined white tunic.

If he was a tremendously strong man before, he was terrifyingly _alien_ now.

Gin was speechless. "You are..."

Besides him, Tosen Kaname was thoroughly frozen still. Such raw power was never before presented so graciously before him. His previous admiration for Aizen was slowly turning into ill-placed fear. Fear of the monster standing before him.

Gin could practically feel the man's fight or flight mechanism kicking in, especially without his sight, he sympathized with the blind man relying on _reiatsu_ to feel the creature Aizen had become. He himself could feel the change in Aizen's _reiatsu_, but he suspected that Kaname's senses picked it up tenfold.

"The inner dimension has grown unstable due to the combined force of the _Hōgyoku's_ and my _reiatsu_," Aizen casually explained his exit from the _Hōgyoku'_s inner dimension, not at all bothering to explain his current state.

Gin, only now noticing the red cargo Aizen was carrying in his arms, questioned the man, "then he already...?" he trailed off, eyeing what looked like a fitfully asleep Abarai Renji.

Noticing the gaze, Aizen stiffened.

He looked down at the familiar face, the vermillion strands caught between his arms, "the _Seika_ proves to be... disappointing," he responded tightly, "but we may just have another use of him yet."

Now that had both Gin and Kaname confused. Why would Aizen fuse with the _Hōgyoku_ now, of all times, if he didn't already have the _Seika_'s blessing? Wasn't that his plan all along?

While Kaname had no problem accepting the fact after his initial shock, Gin suspected that something happened in that place. Something that made Aizen throw away his carefully laid plans and made hasty decisions such as what Gin was currently seeing.

Without the _Seika_'s blessing, fusing with the _Hōgyoku_ simply meant that Aizen was going to get so strong that he was practically invincible. It didn't change the fact that Aizen needed a considerable amount of time and effort to forge the key to invade the Soul King's palace. The _Seika_ was supposed to be that push to create the holy key, being an actual _deity_ that resided in the Soul King's dimension—the addition that Aizen would be a literal _god_ was simply a bonus.

Instead he made a different call.

"Tell the others to retreat for now," Aizen commanded, "Kuchiki Byakuya could not be defeated in his current state."

That piqued Gin's interest.

"You know what happened to him?"

Aizen gave him a passing glance as he walked to the open window overseeing the all-out battle a distance away.

"Nothing of your concern, for now."

* * *

"What is he?!" Barragan Louisenbairn grunted as he evaded a cascading fire of deathly petals.

He was bleeding profusely on many parts of his body—and he could see his fellow _Espada_ was not in any better condition. It was shameful to admit, but he was forced to revert from his _Resurrección _form when he realized that his _Respira_ was not quick enough to deteriorate the raven man's blade petals as they attacked him from all directions, bringing the miasma too close to his own body for comfort. And the disturbing fact that those blades did not deteriorate despite them being _metal_.

He couldn't help but illogically suspect that the man was not even a living being.

"Aizen-sama is telling us to retreat," Tier Harribel shouted from across the sand dunes, gathering the attention of Barragan and Coyote Starrk, who were both busy evading the endless blades that seemed to close in on them by the second. She had received a message from Ichimaru Gin from her in-ear communicator—a device courtesy of the now-deceased Szayelaporro Granz, he was useful, for a while.

Starrk's _Resurrección_ was still activated, but his attacks proved to be futile against an enemy that he couldn't even see beyond the wall of tiny blades, his barrages of _ceros_ not having any impact at all in making an opening enough for him to fire his attacks successfully on the standing raven just beyond that destructive wall.

He tried once again to send in his wolves, Lilynette's gun forms on steady hands, ready to fire another barrage of _ceros_ once his wolves managed to bite through and blasted off the wall of blades—but he admitted that he was not optimistic of the outcome.

That he did. Because the explosion caused by the wolves simply did nothing to the blades that were now lashing like whips to his direction—_evade!_

And he was not fast enough—even Tier, the swiftest of them all, was not. What could he expect? He just managed to evade the majority of the blades, but the few that managed to injure him did it quite spectacularly. A dozen slashes across his back sent him falling to the sand, coating the white particles in his red, _red_ blood. He would survive, but he didn't think that he wanted to get up anytime soon.

He deactivated his _Resurrección _and Lilynette rushed to tend to him, equally beaten up. The raven-haired beast, benevolent as he was, deemed that Starrk was no longer a threat, focused his blades on the other two _Espada_.

Barragan, seeing the state that the _Primera_ _Espada_ was reduced to, shouted back in frustration, "retreat where, exactly!"

"Just follow the orders," Tier grunted as she dodged a whip-like blades formation, her entire body trembling with rage—and was it fear?—as she finally saw the shinigami standing just some distance away as if deeming it unnecessary to even protect himself with the wall of blades, anymore. She suspected that he never even needed them in the first place.

She wondered where was he when the shinigami were fighting Aizen's forces in the Human World before—surely, he would prove to be a larger threat than even the Captain-Commander himself, with his god-like power.

But then, they wouldn't be having this battle, and Aizen wouldn't even get this far ahead in his plans, if the raven was there.

She decided that retreating was the best course of action. A tiny voice in her head said they were running away, but she would take that too. It didn't really matter to her as long as she didn't have to fight the monster before her anymore, given the little time she had to prepare for him. It was a blatant excuse, she knew, but call her anything you want—she was a pragmatist.

So she evaded another attack, and gathered Coyote Starrk in her arms, his _Fracción_ holding on to his form like a lifeline that he was to her, and called Barragan to stop being stubborn and follow her.

"This is a disgrace," the old _Espada_ snarled, but didn't have any fight left in him to retaliate to Aizen's orders anymore. They were simply fighting a losing battle.

"Hey, where are you running off to!" Kurosaki Ichigo shouted as the Arrancars he was fighting—whatever was left since the beginning of the battle—suddenly jumped off and ran away.

"Let them be, Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya ordered the substitute shinigami lowly. He swiftly swung his rapidly reformed _Zanpakuto _to get rid of nonexistent dust and re-sheathed them back in his scabbard. _Senbonzakura_ was practically purring at being used to his full potential even for such a short battle. He couldn't blame the spirit, even the noble himself was vibrating in an adrenaline rush. It was exhilarating to be able to let loose, even if the circumstances were less than desirable.

Ichigo decided that he wouldn't mess with the Kuchiki anymore. He was fighting his own—decidedly less exciting battle, he grumbled—but he could still see the nearly manic look in the noble's eyes as he fought, barely moving from his spot yet doing devastating damage to the enemies. Some of the _Fraccións_ that Ichigo was fighting were even caught in the noble's petal blasts and swiftly disintegrated. And he wasn't using his _Bankai_ for god's sake!

Now, the last time Ichigo fought Byakuya, they were at best on par with each other—Ichigo having a slight edge since the noble was already quite worn from his battle with Renji—but now? Well, blame it on his ego, but Ichigo wouldn't want to be caught fighting when Kuchiki Byakuya was around to compare.

"I sensed Aizen's _reiatsu_," Byakuya's clipped tone snapped Ichigo back to the matter at hand.

Right. Find Renji, save him. Kick Aizen's ass if they had the time.

"And Renji's," Ichigo breathed in relief as he felt the flickering _reiatsu_, weak, but discernable enough—warm and red and stubborn and _Renji_.

* * *

"Aizen-sama," Tier Harribel called as she struggled to lift the heavy burden of Starrk's unconscious form. While she was able to do so effortlessly given her at peak form, she was both severely injured and mentally tired.

A few steps behind her, Barragan Louisenbairn trudged on slowly healing legs, limping on one side as the other was decidedly fractured. It was a miracle that they could get to the rendezvous point without the two shinigami intercepting them on the way.

But it was a small window. They had to leave now if they wanted to see the proverbial light of another day.

"Where are we going to go?" Tier questioned her leader as she deposited Starrk's body to the ground gently, noticing the redhead loosely held by Aizen's arms—and that the brunette looked _alien_ at best. She didn't have the energy nor the will to ask him about it.

"Just follow me," the brunette walked past them and put the unconscious cargo to a relatively dust-free spot—it _was_ an open space with _desert_ surrounding them, after all.

"Wait," now it was Ichimaru gin's turn to question their leader, "we're leaving him here?"

Aizen was silent, and it was more than enough gesture to keep the rest of his followers quiet. _Don't question me, _it said.

"Months of effort to get him and we let him go in less than a week," Barragan's snide words—meant to keep to himself than shared to the world—reached the rest of his comrades.

Aizen stilled.

Everyone held their breath.

And then the brunette continued walking to a large area.

"Don't test him, Barragan," Tier hissed at the subdued former King of Hueco Mundo, and followed her leader as he proceeded to open a portal with his _Hōgyoku_ infused power.

And there was no trace of them ever existed in the crumbling fortress save for whatever was left of one Abarai Renji.

* * *

When Ichigo and Byakuya arrived, Aizen and his group were barely gone. Ichigo cursed and kick the offending sand on the ground as if they just desecrated his mother's grave and scrubbed his face in frustration.

Byakuya ignored the substitute's antics, and instead chose to observe his surroundings. Amidst Kurosaki Ichigo's frustration, he couldn't sense that there was one flickering _reiatsu_ left behind. Small and weak, yet sure and steady.

There, surrounded by the grand white walls of Las Noches, was Abarai Renji's body.

He laid unmoving, so still that untrained eyes would deem he dead.

But Byakuya was persistent. He marched to the spot where his fallen lieutenant was, Ichigo finally noticing the redhead also, scrambled to get to the other. He noticed that the noble was significantly calmer now, his pulsating _reiatsu_ no longer destructive to his surroundings.

_That was also noteworthy_, Ichigo thought as he filed his finding away for later inquiries. There were many on his list, even he wasn't sure where to start.

Byakuya approached his slumped lieutenant cautiously as if a hunter not wanting to scare away his prey. But the prey itself wasn't even conscious to begin with.

White robes on equally pale skin. Fragile body limp like a marionette cut from its strings. Dull, once vibrant crimson mane that lost its luster, its life.

It painted a picture he knew all too well.

_Hisana_.

"Why did they leave him?" Kurosaki Ichigo's bewildered voice was white noise to his ears. He kneeled there, frozen. His eyes glazing as pictures and phantoms of a time long gone chased away his vision of reality.

Flashes of sound, images of a beautiful raven-haired woman smiling, coughing, bleeding. In his arms, dead.

"_Forgive me, Byakuya-sama," a frail, soft voice of the woman he loved. Even on her last breaths, she was so warm, cherished, loved. _

"_I couldn't return Byakuya-sama's love."_

_Violet eyes looked at him sadly for the last time, before glazing, and closing shut forever. _

_Hisana_.

"He's weak," an outsider's voice reached him.

But he was uncaring as his delirious visions continued, he looked down at the woman he held in his arms, the love of his life. Pale, weak, _dying_ and red.

Red.

Red hair, a grin, heart-warming lunchboxes.

A sad smile, slumped behind a cell, dull.

A silent vow, his promise—_nothing will happen to you_—broken. Taken.

And the clouded vision was gone. The image of his deceased wife was replaced by a sight that made him wish for another reality.

Renji. In his arms.

Dying.

He knew what must be done now.

"**FATHER**!" the Kuchiki hollered, his voice booming and echoed through the vast walls of _Las Noches,_ carrying a haunting quality that shook Ichigo to his core.

It was a lion's roar. A beast's wail. The wind's howl. Nature's rage.

It was terrifying to hear. As of heaven's horns were blown for the first time since Christ's Ascension. A natural phenomenon occurring from a person's voice.

It was a Call.

"Byakuya, what—"

The Kuchiki continued his booming howl, "**FATHER!**"

"**TAKE US!**"

Ichigo had enough of the fear-inducing Calls, moved to grab the Kuchiki by his shoulder, "Byakuya, stop this!"

The raven stilled and all was silent.

Ichigo retracted his hand as he watched in horrifying awe as the raven turned his head in an inhumane manner to him—swift, smooth, _alien_. The cold slate eyes was hollow and **black** and impossibly wide.

It would make even the strongest man unable to sleep from fear of never-ending nightmares.

* * *

"There's no other choice," a figure shrouded in shadows sighed on his enormous seat.

"King?"

"We take them," the figure nodded to his attendant.

* * *

"**Do not touch me**," the _creature_ warned.

For what was _it_, if not a monster?

He had no time to ponder, and thank all the gods known and unknown to him when the Calling stopped and a bright white pillar of light shot down from the sky, tearing apart Las Noches to its core.

Shadows of five figures emerged from the pillar of light.

* * *

.

.

.

"Welcome back, _Byakuya_."

* * *

-_ to be continued -_

* * *

**Additional Notes**

_Numerós_: Lit. Numbers; Hollows that were turned into Arrancars by Aizen to serve in his army as combat experts. They rank from number 11 and above according to their time of birth. Aizen may hand-pick highly distinguished _Numerós _and promote them to _Espada_.

_Fracción_: Lit. Fraction; _Numerós _that are selected by the _Espada_ to be their subordinates.

_Resurrección_: Lit. Resurrection; it is when an Arrancar unseal their Hollow offensive abilities from the sealed form of their weapons. A different principle but much like a shinigami's _Bankai_ in practice.

_Respira_: lit. Breathe; one of Barragan Louisenbairn _Resurrección_ technique, in which he released smoke-like miasma that ages and rots anything that it comes in contact with. He based it on the principle that all that is created and are made of living things will be affected because all living things will eventually die.


	14. Chapter 14 - Ascension

Chapter 14 – Ascension

* * *

"This is unprecedented," Akon, the 3rd Seat and Vice-President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute awed.

"Marvelous," Kurotsuchi Mayuri hummed in gleeful agreement. The large monitor in front of them showed statistical data filled with equations no normal person can understand. In the middle of the screen was a tubular shape stretching vertically, the top and bottom corner of it was scattered with numbers and charts indicating a surging spike, complete with bright red 'warning!' status across the screen.

"Kurotsuchi, what's the meaning of this?"

The Twelfth Division's captain's left eye twitched at the insolent wench who dared to interrupt his train of thoughts.

They were in his lab back at the Twelfth Division's SRDI building. He had issued a reluctant notice calling for all available high-ranking personnel to be summoned after he detected an unusual, but not thoroughly unfamiliar phenomenon happening in Hueco Mundo. At least, not to him and a few... others.

"Well if you would shut your trap and open your eyes, you'll see it quite clearly, _little girl_," Mayuri spat in a rather venomous fashion, "it's an interdimensional bridge!"

Soi-Fon bristled at the insult. How she would show this... this _clown_ to his place when she managed to—

"And?" Hitsugaya Toshiro interrupted calmly. The child prodigy was assessing the monitor with a frown on his boyish face. While other things managed to get into his head—such as the condition of Hinamori Momo and how it was _his fault that—_he retained a rather blank canvas.

As it turned out, only Soi-Fon, Hitsugaya Toshiro and Shunsui Kyoraku as a temporary replacement for the Captain-Commander were available. The rest of the captains were either busy with the rebuilding of whatever was damaged in the previous battle, finishing up on re-establishing Karakura Town back in its proper place, and other matters that required more of their attention. Some of the lieutenants were assisting in Hollow extermination team that found residual Hollows and Arrancars still lurking around Soul Society, while some others such as Lieutenant Hinamori were... indefinitely unavailable.

Mayuri snorted at the child prodigy's query. He could be as demeaning as he was to the likes of Soi Fon, but somehow the sharp, calculative gaze of the boy before him reminded him of himself, despite the lack of manic excitement. Perhaps it was the genius in him acknowledging another one like him, even though they were in completely different fields.

"It's a mean of travel between highly correlative dimensions that is otherwise nonexistent in our current timeframe," he started off, and proceeded to narrate a highly complex approach as to how a theoretical interdimensional travel could work given the current scientific understanding of the theory, and how a futuristic society would adapt to that theory given their advanced knowledge—by which Kurotsuchi growled rather enviously, to the room's occupants' confusion—and technological resources.

"_And?_"

After that fifteen minutes rant, Hitsugaya Toshiro's reaction was _not_ what he expected.

"What more do you want me to say?" Kurotsuchi grounded out. He took back what he thought about his genius acknowledgment. The boy was _clearly_ mocking him!

"Well, where does it lead?" Soi Fon intercepted impatiently. She admitted that she hadn't a clue of what Kurotsuchi just blabbered about—to be fair, it was an unnecessarily long rant filled with information that was useless to her given the circumstances—but she knew a potential threat when she saw one. And that interdimensional travel bridge as the manic captain described could bring in threats unknown.

She glanced at her right and more than noticed Shunsui Kyoraku's unusual poker face.

As usual, the guy knew something that the rest of them didn't, being a senior captain that he was.

"Why don't you find out?" Mayuri waved his hand tauntingly in front of her face, making her growl.

She was about to pound the clown's face in itself when the door to the lab opened and revealed the least expected person to come. The Captain-Commander himself had emerged from his seclusion.

"It leads to the Soul King's Palace," Yamamoto Genryuusai said, aiming his blank eyes to the general direction of the room. Somehow, Shunsui figured that the old commander was avoiding any eye contact with one of his oldest students. Shame, perhaps.

"Captain-Commander!" Soi Fon exclaimed at the commander's appearance. It had been a week since his self-inflicted exile to his tightly guarded—by _Ryujin Jakka_—quarters in the First Division. While she didn't know what made him go to such extreme measures, she knew it must had something to do with the abduction of Abarai Renji.

After his first admittance of the existence of the _Seika_, and him at one point having received his blessing, Soi Fon already suspected that there must be some sort of relationship between him and the _Seika_. But to what extent of closeness, she couldn't see. His interaction with Abarai was patchy at best from what she saw. There were times that he visited the redhead when he was locked up in the _Mugen_, but who knew what lies behind closed doors.

But all she could see was that Abarai's abduction took a glaringly obvious toll on the ancient captain. Maybe it was their past relation but a millennium ago. Whatever it was, Soi Fon was less than impressed that it made the Captain-Commander abandoned his duties, especially in a delicate time such as this.

"I... I have no excuse, my fellow captains," Yamamoto said quietly, a shameful tone very much _bizarre_ in his voice was used to portray his regret, "I abandoned my duties when I'm needed most."

Safe to say that it nearly stunned everyone into silence.

Not quite enough, though, because Soi Fon was just about to speak her mind when Shunsui, just in time, managed to put his words in before that happened.

"No, Yamamoto-dono," the laid back captain shook his head, a genuine understanding in his voice, "we understand," he pointedly looked at the rest of the room occupants to not say any more than that.

"I don't," Kurotsuchi Mayuri, the ever spiteful soul, quipped with a sneer. While he may not really care much about what the Captain-Commander did in his private time, his prolonged absence had made Mayuri unable to continue to work on his new toy—which he still _blamed_ Kuchiki Byakuya for _everything_ that he did to break in to his facility and _unlawfully_ used his equipment, it was a miracle the device was not broken at all—and had to comply to the _acting_ commander, Shunsui Kyoraku, and helped in the rebuilding of Seireitei and Soul Society as a whole, re-establish Karakura Town back in its proper location _and_ help the Fourth Division in treating the injured! Or his research budget would be cut in _half_!

He knew it didn't make sense nor was it justifiable to blame the absent Captain-Commander on his woes since he just knew he would be working twice as hard as it was now if the old captain was in his right mind. But given his ire, he was on a warpath to basically blame anything that _moves_.

"It's called the _Tenchūren_," the weary Captain-Commander stated, "it's a transportation vehicle used by certain... individuals from the Soul King's dimension to access ours," he explained, gesturing to the tubular image on the large monitor in the lab.

"Wait," Toshiro perked up at that, "you mean this is _exactly_ what Aizen is looking for?"

"Then it's him? He did it?"

"No," Shunsui once again shook his head, "Aizen couldn't have recreated this, even with the Hōgyoku."

He definitely knew something that the rest of the room—except for the Captain-Commander himself—didn't. Well, save for Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He looked more spiteful than surprised at that point. Perhaps because someone outdid him in creating something he couldn't, like the _Tenchūren_ itself. And he was still rooted in deep hatred for Urahara Kisuke for the _Hogyōku, _no matter if the man was the one who got him out of his... darker past in the first place.

"I see no sign of him," Soi Fon argued, "or his followers. He must've gone through," she concluded.

Mayuri leered at the Second Division's captain. "Only one way to find out," he taunted, to which she _finally_ managed to land a punch on his smug, clown face.

"Fascinating," Akon, who was quiet this whole time, mumbled, "I was just on my way to investigate it myself."

Every division has its rebels.

* * *

They emerged at sundown. It must have been hours that they spent in an interdimensional passage through the Hogyōku, with Aizen Sousuke leading the way silently, before he stopped and created an opening that ripped through the enclosed space they were in.

Aizen walked through the opening, trusting that his comrades would follow him. Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname followed next, their faces schooled in a way that conveyed nothing to the outside world, a perfect imitation of Aizen's blank expression.

Behind them, Coyote Starrk was heaved by both Lilynette and another Números, Tier Harribel and Barragan Louisenbairn lagging behind.

It was a pathetic sight. But what jarred them more was the location they were in.

"Aizen-sama, why are we here?" Tier asked her leader with a frown.

It was the Material World.

Why would Aizen lead them to it?

One glance and she knew that they were not anywhere near Karakura Town. If her memories served her right, it was a place called Kyoto. She once was shown the location by Ichimaru Gin, he said it was to expand her knowledge of the Material World so she could strategize better in battles. She didn't know why he had to explain this... Kyoto to her. As far as she knew, it wasn't nearly as _reiryoku _rich as Karakura, and lower-level Hollows would actually perish in it because of the lack of _reiryoku_ to feed on.

Once again, Aizen stopped in his tracks. Everyone in the group held their breath, anticipating their leader's reaction. But again, he simply continued walking ahead, as if he didn't hear her question. Tier narrowed her eyes.

Aizen was leading them to the edge of the city, into the dense woods and deeper still. All along the journey, Tier and her comrades shared one thought.

There was something that he was hiding from them.

* * *

"I'll stay behind, in case they come," a plump woman with bright, purple hair styled in an elaborate updo said as she ushered her colleagues to a brightly lit pillar that stretched to the heavens.

"We have no way of launching it back, anyway," a skinny man with a tall pompadour snorted as he peered at a large sphere containing their precious cargo. A growl from behind him made him jump and scampered closer to the pillar. Not that he was fearful, mind you, he was as fierce as the fiercest tiger, but even he knew danger when it came knocking.

"Get Kukaku Shiba," a bald man with a long, pitch-black beard nodded his head. He was clearly the leader of the miss-matched group. He gestured for the rest of his group to follow him into an empty space just beside the pillar.

"This is a pain," the pompadour man, now a safe distance away from the glowing sphere and the dangerous beast guarding it, complained, "why didn't we just use the _Chokaimon_?"

"Dramatic entrance, Kirinji," a beautiful woman, with headdress as glamorous as the empress of an Eastern kingdom, scoffed at the lack of elegance the pompadour man showed.

"No one's watching," Kirinji sneered mockingly.

The plump woman shook her head at the antics of her comrades and turned to face the leader of the group. "I will see you, then."

"Be careful, Hikifune."

* * *

"This is next level," Ichigo awed at the scenery before and all around him.

They were on a grand staircase that seemed to stretch to infinity, everything was white and pure and _holy_. There were isles floating on the sky, housing different sections of the world before him. Right in the middle was the largest island, a humongous structure stood erect and intimidating before him. To call it a castle was an understatement.

In front of him was a very silent Kuchiki Byakuya, his eyes pitch black and aimed at a large spherical device that held his most precious lieutenant, seemingly unconscious. There was at least a five feet radius between him and Renji from the rest of the group. A miffed Kiriniji Tenjiro trailed behind in a lackadaisical manner.

"That it is, Kurosaki Ichigo," a bald man leading the group said in a rather amusing manner.

"How do you—"

"I know names," the man answered vaguely before Ichigo could voice his confusion.

But then that only brought more questions to his mind. "What?"

"Forgive the late introduction, I am Hyosube Ichibe of the Zero Division," Ichibe introduced, and then gesturing to his comrades around him, "the Great Weave Guard, Shutara Senjumaru," the beautiful lady with ornate headpiece inclined her head, "God of the Swords, Nimaiya Oetsu," a silent afro nodded his head in a reminisce of a rapper, "the troublemaker, Kirinji Tenjiro," to which Kirinji exclaimed indignantly, "he is our best healer and the Hot Spring Demon."

"What about the fat lad—"

"She wouldn't like you calling her that," Ichibe laughed boisterously, "she is the Ruler of Grain, Hikifune Kirio. And you might reconsider your statement when you see her later on," he continued knowingly.

Ichibe then proceeded to explain the role of the Zero Division to the substitute shinigami, how it was their duty to protect the Royal Family and that he would have never heard of them if it was not for Byakuya who Called.

Ichigo was stupefied with the information he received. To think that it was that easy for them to enter the world that Aizen so desperately wanted. The gravity of the situation was not lost on him. If Aizen found that the pillar was still in Hueco Mundo... Well, he would have to trust Hikifune Kirio—whoever the fat lady was—to guard against him and his followers. They did seem rather... strong. From the way they act and the fact that they were the 'Zero' Division meant that they were at least stronger than the rest of the Gotei 13, right?

He went to ask about his concern on Aizen finding the Tenchūren—that was what they called it, wasn't it?—to Ichibe, but before he could voice a word, he heard some rather... disturbing noises from the one and only Kuchiki Byakuya.

It was not dissimilar with the haunting notes he had when he did the Calling, but it was a whole lot quieter and it was almost as if he was... conversing?

"Oi, Bya—"

"Best not disturb him, Kurosaki Ichigo," the beautiful woman—Senjumaru—shook her head, her eyes sharp, "not right now."

"What is he mumbling about?"

"He is communicating," Ichibe simply said.

Ichigo frowned at the vague explanations he had been getting from the so-called Zero Division. It was as if they didn't trust him even though they led him into their dimension. Or perhaps it wasn't their place to explain about the oddity that Kuchiki Byakuya had become?

"I'll just wait," he relented, slumping forward.

Ichibe grinned wolfishly. "Wise decision."

* * *

"Ah, it's about time."

Soi-Fon froze on the spot as she emerged from the artificial Garganta that Kurotsuchi Mayuri made right by the site of the phenomenon they saw from his lab.

She did not expect a fellow shinigami, tremendously powerful and unknown to _her_, to be standing right on the spot where Kurotsuchi stated his findings. And right next to a giant, glowing pillar that stretched to the heavens.

"You...!"

"I knew it," the eccentric scientist himself had an increasingly wider grin on his face, the gold of his teeth gleaming ominously. He was truly glad that annoying Shutara was not there with the plump lady. He _couldn't_ stand her smug face, as ironic as it sounded.

The other two captains, Kyoraku Shunsui and Hitsugaya Toshiro emerged not long after, Akon trailing behind in barely contained excitement.

Shunsui whistled, checking out the pillar-like transport in an almost nostalgic way. He remembered the first time he saw it coming and blasting off everything surrounding it to smithereens. While the younger captains didn't have the opportunity seeing it first hand as it pierced and tore through the heavens, its landing an explosion of light, he was quite glad of the implication—there was no need for the pillar to show, they could handle the situation themselves.

But now.

His expression turned somber as he remembered exactly the reason why the pillar ever came down at all the last time he saw it. It was too late, and it was devastating. The conflict brewed as they fought amongst each other, blaming those who descended as cowards, and blaming those who fought for being weak.

But most of all, it was heart-wrenching to see the great Captain-Commander reduced to a wreck of depression, not unlike what he was in since a week ago, after Aizen—

Shunsui shook the thought away. It was not the time to mule over bygones. "But it's awfully arrogant of you to launch it right here," he instead said in a relaxed manner, as if to show that he was not shaken by the appearance of one Hikifune Kirio amongst them.

"You don't think I can take care of these critters myself?" Hikifune scoffed, gesturing to the decaying bodies of Hollows and Arrancars alike, some were even Números that didn't manage to follow Aizen in time.

"I'm sure you know what, or rather, _who_, I'm implying here," Shunsui retorted, his eyes conveying meanings that Soi Fon and Toshiro couldn't catch.

"He's not here," Hikifune narrowed her eyes, her red lips pursed at Shunsui's implied suggestion that she couldn't take on Aizen Sousuke herself. While she understood that the man was a formidable opponent, she couldn't imagine her, as one of the Zero Division, would lose to him just because he created a cheap and _mortal_ imitation of the holy orb she had come to know from her time as a Royal Guard. Even if said orb—so dubbed Hogyōku—was still a mystery to her and her comrades as to how powerful it really was.

On the side, Kurotsuchi Mayuri and his deputy-president of the SRDI, Akon, were too busy inspecting and poking around the Tenchūren to bother joining into the conversation. While Akon might have slightly more interest in learning about the person herself that came with the scientific wonder the Tenchūren was, he didn't want to be outdone by his captain. And the fact that the device might have taken Abarai Renji to a safer location was also a boost of motivation.

It was already heavily implied that the woman wasn't the enemy, after all.

"Okay, who is—"

"I'm gonna cut to the chase," Hikifune interrupted Toshiro, "I need you to get Shiba Kukaku here to launch back the _Tenchūren_," she stated primly, all manners of jest gone from her plump façade and replaced with seriousness that even got Mayuri to stop his poking around to spare a glance at her.

Soi Fon bristled at the audacity of the plump woman to giver what sounded to her _clearly_ as an order. "Preposterous, how dare you—"

"Do as she says," Yamamoto Genryuusai's voice boomed through the still open Garganta, followed by the emergence of himself.

Soi Fon and Toshiro exclaimed. "Captain-Commander!"

Yamamoto then began to explain the situation to the two young captains who never met or knew of the Zero Division, having thought that as captains they would know everything there was to know. But clearly, the Zero Division was a tightly reined information that held secrets the senior captains didn't want them to know if they could help it.

It was right on the mark, as Yamamoto explained with a detached voice that they had come on the aftermath of the thousand-year war, after the _Seika_ was gone and the 'evil' merely sealed away. It was heavily implied in his tone that there was a bitterness still that the senior captains held against the Zero Division, him, most of all.

A short while after his brief introduction of the Zero Division, Yamamoto deeply exhaled and looked at Hikifune in the eye.

"You have the three of them?"

"Yes."

"Then I shall acquiesce," he nodded curtly, "take good care of them."

Hikifune inclined her head in confirmation and then hesitated.

"It's time to let the past go, Yamamoto."

His silence was all the answer she needed.

* * *

As Ichibe walked from the chamber he was in, a disgruntled Senjumaru confronted him.

"Have they Ascended?"

Ichibe breathed in and sighed loudly, "they have."

It was highly stressful for him to witness the Ascension. The amount of raw energy needed to push through the thousands of layers of space and time was _enormous, _even for one such as himself. Just being in the presence of such power took a considerable amount of energy. It was a wonder that Senjumaru's sphere weavings weren't torn apart and drop the _Seika_ before the pure energy lifted him off to the beyond—or perhaps it was the sentient energy holding the sphere together.

What took most of his energy was to withstand Kuchiki Byakuya's own energy footprints as it lashed across the chamber along with the pure heavenly energy. While the chamber walls were designed to withstand multiple times of what the combined energies were releasing, Ichibe, unfortunately, was not. Sometimes he wished he wasn't in charge of the Ascension chamber protection.

The black-haired woman nodded, she could feel the clash of energy and space from within the chamber as she waited for him outside, just far enough to get the full brunt of the force, but close enough that she could still keep her protective sphere from falling apart whilst the energy accumulation process was happening.

"Kurosaki Ichigo is in the Kirinden with Kirinji," she reported, "he should be good after a quick soak."

"How is the _Seika_?" she returned to the question she was about to ask. Ichibe grunted and gestured for Senjumaru to walk with him, "still... unconscious. But the Messenger assured that he would be under constant monitoring."

She hummed.

* * *

Kuchiki Byakuya opened a large door that led him into a sterile-looking chamber.

"Report."

"His mind is imprisoned," a healer stated, her voice indicating a frown where the stoic face didn't, "I am in the process of opening the mental lock. It is... powerful. The energy spikes feel almost vengeful."

It was a brightly lit room. It was white as snow and bright as the sun, that the _Seika_'s dimming glow was easily lost if not for Byakuya's highly trained eyes.

The healer shrouded in white, one of her hands positioned delicately on the redhead's temple while the other supported the deity's body on a padded block. Tendrils of light hovered and laid on the _Seika_'s head, their tips glowed brighter as the being pushed more of their energy into opening the mental lock. Aizen's power was astoundingly strong.

"I'm afraid that whatever is being done to his mind, the effect..." the healer trailed off.

Byakuya walked in closer to the person that was once his lieutenant. His face holding no hint of emotion as he inched close to the elevated pedestal the redhead was laid upon. However, as he reached out to touch the pale hand of the unconscious soul, a spike of energy passed from him unto the redhead that made him flickered his fingers in surprise.

The healer standing beside him let out a small breath. It was a hard lock to open, but it was Byakuya's energy, the small push that it took to loosen the lock and set the _Seika_'s mind free.

Slowly, but surely, the _Seika_'s fingers twitched. One finger, two, a shift of vermillion hair and a flutter of long red lashes, until twin chocolate orbs were exposed to the white light of the chamber.

Until they clashed with familiar slate greys and grew dark.

In repulsion. In hatred.

In fear.

Byakuya's nose flared as he clenched his fists. His normally slate eyes overtaken by pitch black once again and his _reiatsu_ flared, barely managing to contain itself before he hurt the cowering redhead.

**Aizen**.

* * *

\- _to be continued -_


	15. Chapter 15 - Impermanence

Chapter 15 – Impermanence

* * *

Nothing is permanent.

Abarai Renji was floating in a sea of darkness. The dark waters carried him, the gentle sound of the waves a lullaby to his blurring thoughts. People would think it a heartfelt wish, to be drifting indefinitely in calm waters as the gentle waves licked across his skin in loving caress of a tender lover. To be adrift in an endless ocean of stars, floating towards an island of dreams. How he wished it would last.

Alas.

_It was a flurry of wrathful motion that stroke the dark, shameful fire of his fear. Strong hands coming seemingly out of darkness, gripping him tight, forcing him apart. .His very core being torn to shreds as he heard himself let out a deafening scream of terror. Never-ending torture inflicted upon him, merciless as a machine, forcing its way in and tearing through his very soul, trampling as if he was the very dirt that everyone walked upon. _

_He was _impure_. _

_And then there was that voice. It echoed over and over again, saying the same thing until his ears bleed. _

"_You killed her."_

"_You killed her."_

_Who?_

_A flash of a young woman, petite and fair, her long, dark hair spread about as she was cradled by someone that was her dearest. _

_Rukia...?_

_The man was trembling as he held her lifeless body tight against his beating heart. _

"_Now you will pay," the threatening voice was next to him and then he was plunged into a sea of nightmares._

* * *

Nothing is permanent.

Life, fragile as it is, most of all.

It is the epitome of impermanence. To be born, to live and grow, to age and to rot away in a casket. It is the very cycle that gives and takes, it changes and it grows, and then perishes for eternity. Only to begin again. A never-ending cycle of pain and suffering, of joy and happiness.

Ignorance is key when you witness others' suffering so you can survive through yours. We are all suspects of disingenuous sympathy because we lived through our own sets of torture each and every day—_your suffering is not as important as mine, but do share your joy with me. _

Every single day, every single moment we spend focusing on finding our happiness by trampling on others' misfortune that we justified. To live our lives to our final dying breaths, hands reaching forward, just knowing that true happiness was a hairbreadth away—and then slipping.

To live is to slowly trudge towards death.

But to take a life? Deliberately and actively doing so. To rip its miraculous energy from its core. To separate it from the soul and plunge it deep into the abyss. It took one motion. Swift, subtle, undetectable.

It took a drop of snow to create an avalanche. It took one conflict to create a war.

It took only one _absolute_ to take a life.

A simple catalyst.

_You are reborn into this world. _

He gasped as his body was ripped from its constant and slammed upon doors of the pasts, ugly creatures crawling out of the abyss and chasing him, urging him to look back and see what he had done.

What his existence destroyed.

"_It was a shift in the _reiryoku_... she was already fragile as it was," wisps of images of men dressed as healers entered his vision, their whisper a loud booming alarm to his ears as he watched them conspired behind an ajar door leading to a room he had seen in his previous vision._

_Of the dead woman cradled by her love. _

But just before he could do anything, he was once again moved by an indomitable force to another vision.

_It was the First Division's conference room. From the scene alone, he could tell that it was an emergency meeting. The room was different. Some of the people were different, but he knew they were the former captains of the Gotei 13. And they were all there, except for one. Who, he couldn't remember. But he knew that person was important. _

"_Thousands of souls are dead," a shinigami whispered in horror as he reported his findings to the group of high-ranking officials. _

Renji could see it clearly. The Captain-Commander looked guilty enough that he knew the man knew what happened that could cause such devastation.

_Another shinigami burst through the room, his mien panicked and his uniform dirtied with dried blood._

"_Hollow attack!"_

"_Prepare your units!" the Captain-Commander's voice was booming, "get Kuchiki!"_

His breath hitched as he was pulled apart, and sewed back into another memory of the past—another one that was not his.

But it was definitely very recent.

"_It took a toll on everyone, even the captains," a familiar lieutenant's hesitation could be heard from her voice. her tall, lanky body awkwardly shuffled to pace in with her shorter captain as her silver braid swished with her movements. _

"_Why have I never heard of it before?"_

_The captain sighed and looked at her subordinate. "No one was supposed to talk about it," she warned, "the Captain-Commander decreed the incident as an anomaly that no one could answer."_

"_So he silenced everyone from the incident," the lieutenant concluded quietly. _

_What incident?_

"_It is better to not delve further into this, Isane."_

"You killed her."

The voice was back again. The torture continued as he opened his mind's eye.

And now he realized. The dead bodies, the souls destroyed before their time. The woman.

Just as he was about to succumb to the eternal suffering and darkness, the foreign memory continued in his mind.

"_But Captain Unohana, the secret is out already, we know who he is now," Isane insisted. _

"_This is a different matter to finding out who he is," Unohana stated firmly, "and _Lieutenant Abarai_ shall not know about this at any cost."_

So they planned to keep him in the dark from his own sins.

As his body was ravaged by his tormentor, he could only stare back at the darkness as blood seeped out of all his orifices. He deserved it.

_My awakening killed Kuchiki Hisana._

_I killed her. _

I killed them all.

* * *

"Renji," a deep, gentle voice called him back to his conscious.

I killed her.

_Facing the eyes of my tormentor, I found guilt entrenched so deep within my soul that I feel the bottom crumbled down to the deep darkness of my sin._

"I killed her," he croaked.

"Renji," Kuchiki Byakuya sighed softly, reaching to caress his lieutenant's face when the redhead flinched.

He cowered away, his fears mixed with guilt—of himself, of _what he was, what he did_—were all that it took for him to shift his eyes like a shameful convict.

"He is affected."

The sound of a woman snapped him out of his thoughts enough to peek at another figure standing beside his bed.

She silently gestured for Byakuya to step out of view, which he reluctantly did. She coaxed the redhead to tell her what he meant by his words.

Memories of the past flooded his mind, the horrifying visions intertwingled in his mind forming a cohesive story that he was never aware of before.

* * *

After the war, he wandered Soul Society as a spiritual entity, invisible, undetectable—free. He roamed the lands and witnessed beauty, happiness, pain, and chaos all due to the war and conflict amongst people. He found that even free to do what he will, he was bound to the world to be reborn and bestow upon a champion the power to defeat the evil that still lurked in the shadow.

And so he was. His rebirth was a chaotic force that he never thought it was. The _Kiishi_ cliff—the place where it all started—was once lush forestry stretching for miles, filled with forest dwellers and _people_. On his rebirth, the _reishi_ accumulation happening in the area and the sudden explosion afterward decimated the entirety of the population—the trees, the animals, the _souls_—and a part of the land fell apart, leaving behind a barren cliff filled with strangely dense _reishi_.

He killed them.

After his rebirth, taking the form of an innocent babe underlying the sins that he had just for being _born, _he was taken in by survivors, thinking that he was simply abandoned and they took mercy on him by raising him as their own. Until they decided he was not worth even a meager day's meal.

His first real memories were that of _Inuzuri_. Every day was filled with an uncertain notion if he would survive another moment of constant starvation and abuse. Every turn he took filled with threats that shouldn't have been witnessed by a child. Shouldn't have been experienced by one.

"_You took him in," a middle-aged woman spat, her face twisted into an ugly scowl, "not such a noble idea, after all, was it?"_

"_Shut _up_, woman, you were the one who insisted he'll be a fucking ' blessing'," a skinny man growled, clearly he wanted her constant nagging to stop, preferably by cutting off that lashing tongue of hers._

"_Just put him up for auction or something. He's scrawny, but they'll have use of him yet."_

_The man glanced over at the redheaded child cowering under a meager table, his twig-like limbs pale and marred with black and blue. "He's not bad to look at, either."_

_The woman, though ugly in the heart as she was on the outside, was positively scandalized. "He's a _child_!" she hissed. _

He was. But who was he to complain? He lost his childhood innocence the very moment he was cast aside by his 'family' when he proved to be a burden than a blessing. He was no better than the people who used him for their gains. He was a filthy murderer by design.

The days blurred together as he was handed from one house to another, serving families or running from _bad people_ when he didn't have a choice but to steal. Until one day he was found out by the _bad people_ and they had their way with him. By the time they let him go, he couldn't move an inch, his bones broken and his skin blistered and bruised and crusted with blood and other filthy things and he was preparing himself for sweet death.

And then they found him.

"_Hey," a lanky teenager kicked at his feet where he was crouching down in a small, deserted alleyway, "ye wan' join us?" the boy grinned as he jabbed his thumb to the group of small children behind him. _

_He could only stare back. _

And he became a part of them. His childhood friends. His life support. Since he was one of the oldest, he became a parent figure to the rest of the kids.

Then Rukia came.

"_Yer jus' a girl!" the boy who saved his life, Yoshiro, exclaimed in disbelief. _

"_Yeah? A girl who just saved your butts!"_

And she, too, joined their growing family.

For a time, he didn't have to scramble for scraps in fear of getting caught alone by the _bad people_. They still struggle for each and every day, but they were happy. They were a family. And he loved them.

_Nothing is permanent._

He was in a teenager's body by the time he realized none of his friends had aged—except for Rukia. They found that they both had more _reiryoku_—something that they didn't know about until they entered the Academy—than the rest of their family and that they aged as a normal person would compared to a waiting soul. They became far stronger than the _bad people _chasing after them. For a while, it felt good.

Yoshiro, even though he didn't understand what was happening, was very supportive of him. In a lot of different ways.

And in a lot of ways, they became more than friends. Until the wheel of his awakening moved.

It surprisingly took a lot out of... _everything_.

"_Ren?" Yoshiro whispered one day, his eyes sallow as if he hadn't a good night sleep, "I... I feel real tired these days," he admitted. He was never one to admit weakness as he always acted like the leader of the group. But he found that with Rukia and Renji, he could loosen up for a while. And it was indeed very concerning for him, he never got sick before. It was not in the nature of a waiting soul, after all. He didn't want to be a burden to their group. _

"_Me too," Rukia quipped softly, she was hugging herself. _

"_Rukia?" Renji questioned, reaching to touch her temple if she perhaps caught a cold. _

_He had a sinking feeling. _

It was not long after that he found the rest of the children were growing sick too, and soon after everyone was bedridden.

All except for him. He didn't know then what he knew now. If he did, he would have done something to prevent it from happening.

He would have killed himself.

Because he was sucking their life forces. All of them._ All of Soul Society_.

The adults, who had better stability in their souls would feel lethargic, but the children?

They didn't survive through the winter. Only Rukia did, but only due to the fact that she had a bigger _reiryoku_ reserve than most souls in Rukongai.

Far away in the middle of _Seireitei_'s prosperous households, another family was suffering the loss of a loved one.

_The man cradled her lifeless body into his beating heart. "Hisana..."_

I killed her.

"_Be strong, Renji," she touched his slumped shoulder hesitantly where he kneeled in front of gravestones that he made himself. It was not reassuring because she was sniffling and gasping, trying to control her tears and failing. _

"_Yoshiro... everyone..." he sobbed. _

_He was alone. Rukia was his only salvation. _

_Until she faded away. _

_He stood up in panic as his surrounding grew bleak, his vision hindered by the tears blurring his eyes. _

_He could see the silhouette of a man approaching._

"_Renji," his voice was somber and sad. And then he felt a large hand covering his eyes and grasping at the top of his head. He couldn't move. _

"_This is for the best."_

And he was simply made to forget his sins ever happened. That his friends simply all got reincarnated to the Material World while he and Rukia stayed behind and grew. After all, ignorance is bliss.

When his awakening reached its final point, he was held captive in the _Muken_. He counted his blessings as it took an explosion of dense _reiryoku_ that the reinforced cage absorbed willingly, gradually trickling in memories of his past lives.

But not of what his rebirth and awakening destroyed. For a little while, he was spared from the torturous truth of what ruins he left behind in his wake.

But nothing is permanent.

Aizen's little trick opened the lock that had been placed in the deepest, darkest corner of his mind, holding in memories as if wild beasts caged to never be let out for eternity. And now he knew how deeply entrenched in _red, red blood_ he really was. How excruciatingly unfair the world was, to put him in the high pedestal as he climbed over the mountains of souls that he unknowingly took simply for his existence.

How unbelievably big his ego was, thinking that Aizen Sousuke was not worth his 'blessing'.

When he knew he was a curse.

* * *

Byakuya was livid.

Never mind the jarring fact that the memories that Renji experienced were directly broadcasted into his mind, each second a live imagery of the most graphic description.

To know that Hisana...

He _killed_—no. _No. _

_You know why it had to happen,_ he tightly thought, forcefully shoving the images of the simultaneous scenes between Renji's awakening and Hisana's death rolling through his mind like a broken film. But he couldn't.

He _felt_ the soft, linen fabric of her white _yukata_ as he cradled her body close to his heart. Her own heart beating gradually softer and softer, that his exceptional hearing had to strain to hear it until it simply stopped.

He was there as she died.

As she was _killed_ in front of his very eyes by forces he couldn't control. He cursed the entity that created him, the _god_ who ruined his life, and _his_ creation lying before his eyes.

He blankly gazed at the figure lying on the white bed. It was a familiar scene. White walls. White sheets. White robe. Sickly pale skin. _Red_.

Not Hisana.

_She's dead. _

He unconsciously took a step forward, his eyes blank as his emotion froze. His hands, however, they knew what they wanted as they reached for the sword by his hip. _Senbonzakura_ protested, screamed into his soul and tried to force him into his inner world.

_How dare you_, he thought harshly, _I am your master and you will obey me or I shall cast you out. _

The sword grew cold and the spirit quieted. He knew that his master could do what he said. _Senbonzakura_ was only safe in his _zanpakuto_ form because his master was not made aware of his true nature before. But now that he, also, had awakened to his nature, _Senbonzakura_ was not needed.

And so shalt he obeyed his king.

_You will pay._

Byakuya felt a set of hands gripping his arms, but he felt indestructible. Unstoppable. The hilt reached his chest as he drew the cold, unyielding metal from its scabbard, the material glinting viciously in the harsh white light of the room. The hands that tried to restrain him were slain away from his person, uncaring whether he had completely severed them from their host's body or not. He could hear the quiet whimper of the _woman_ those hands belonged to.

He could vaguely hear her weak voice. It was a warning, perhaps. But he had no time to listen to her. He had not time to think of what he was about to do. And to _who. _There was a murderer in front of him.

_You will pay. _

He steadied his grip on the sword with both his hands—he didn't want to miss his aim—raising it above his head. It was a still, defenseless target. It was outrageously easy. But he would take that opportunity.

For it was the monster who killed Hisana.

He watched in disgust as his twisted vision showed him the monster cowering on the bed. He sneered as it trembled in fear for its impending demise, the dark mane of the demon flowing through the white, satin robes. It was a beauty, but he would not be fooled by its deceptive looks. He knew of the _rot_ sitting inside that thing, in the place of where a heart should have been. He would not be played with by the demon, like a siren leading sailors to their doom.

"You will pay," he heard himself speak. His voice was eerily calm. He sounded like a predator. He refused to acknowledge the tiny voice that told him he _was _the monster if he would go through was he was going to do. No, the demon disguised as a deity in front of him was.

_You will pay. _

The sword swung at impossible speed.

"I'm sorry," the person whispered as he embraced death.

The sharp metal stoppered close to a fragile, pale neck, barely grazing the skin.

It drew a trickle of blood.

_Red_.

Byakuya felt himself shiver. His hands clamoring in horror at what he was about to execute. What a split second of hesitation _saved. _

Sad, lifeless brown eyes gazed into his own. It was that of a pure soul brought upon a cruel, dark world. Tainting holy will into something twisted, guilty. Dirty.

It was not a monster.

It was Renji. And he was not trembling in fear as much as he was wrecked by misplaced guilt that his tears soaked through his face, the force of his sobs wrecked through his body as he closed his eyes in acceptance.

Byakuya was going to kill him and Renji would have _accepted_ it.

He threw away _Senbonzakura_ in disgust. The sword clanked somewhere on the furthest side of the room, out of his reach.

It was for the best.

He did not deserve the loyalty of the fine warrior his _zanpakuto_ spirit was.

He took a step back, and two, until he was a good distance away from the bed his former lieutenant was laid on.

And he ran.

* * *

He knew he wasn't supposed to run in such disgrace. He was supposed to support Renji in his recovery. To apologize, no, to be begging on his knees for forgiveness. To kiss the feet of the person who had been nothing but a kindred spirit in his life.

The drop of blood staining _Senbonzakura_ was still fresh on his mind.

_I almost killed him_.

Because of something that he couldn't control. He knew that the creator that made him what he was, if anything, was to blame. Renji didn't choose what he was, and neither did he.

Hisana's death was inevitable. He knew that. She was fragile and sickly. If not for the swift death that she had from Renji's awakening, she would have to suffer through years of suffering because of his own selfish will that wouldn't let her go.

From the time he took her as his wedded wife, he couldn't let her go. It wasn't a simple whim, nor was it a mere act of rebellion against the elders who gnawed their lips in frustration as he took a poor commoner for a wife. Sure, the first time he saw her, she was a mere pretty face with nothing to her name. And perhaps, indeed he at first took her as his to show the elders simply that he _could_. And she, being poor and suffering all her life, took that chance to live in a large noble house to be wedded to a handsome heir. She was not always of pure intention. She needed to survive, and he understood that.

But the more he knew her, the more he grew to cherish her. She was sweet and kind, she was caring and motherly. She was the woman his mother never was to him, a figure that he needed in his childhood so he didn't grow into such a twisted, selfish person that he was. She helped him become more open, and helped him to love others. And he did, as he started to love her.

Their relationship was not of a pure, love story. He didn't love her at first sight. But as he grew to, his selfish nature wouldn't let her go. She loved him for all she had, but she grew sick with worry and guilt for abandoning her baby sister to survive on her own the more she stayed at the manor, the lavish life she had made her feel all the more guilty. Her worry grew into her already weak body, and it made her ill to the point that she couldn't do anything unassisted. The elders were triumphant, gleefully waiting for her demise for they found her a disgrace and useless addition to the household. For she couldn't give Byakuya the one thing he needed as a clan leader. An heir.

But he was persistent. He searched for the best healers he could find, even venturing into the Material World to find the best doctors to see to the roots of her illness. They found that she had a rare autoimmune disease. It was incurable for them, but Byakuya was optimistic that the healers in Soul Society would find a cure. Every day, he gave her a boost of his own _reiryoku_ to feed into her system, to help combat her cells that attacked themselves. It would rid her of her weakened state for a while, but his _reiryoku_ was not accepted by her own life energy, and it would be expelled from her system in a violent manner that left her worse for wear.

But he was persistent.

She told him time and time again, that she was exhausted. She wanted it all to stop. For him to let her go. To accept her death and to grant her final wish—find Rukia and care for her as his own sister, in her stead.

But he wouldn't listen. He didn't want her _to go_. So he kept going on, putting her through various medications and treatments, futilely grasping at the single thread of life she had left.

He would have destroyed her until she was only a shell of her former self. Renji unknowingly took mercy on her and granted her a swift, painless death, her life force intertwining with the rest of the souls, becoming one and fusing into the _Seika_'s core. She was within him, and she was one of the reasons that their only hope for salvation from _evil _was alive today.

Nothing is permanent.

Strengthening his resolve, he returned to the room that held his redhead. He was there where he left him, the healer was nowhere to be found.

He took in the picture Renji made for his eyes to feast upon. The dull red hair slowly getting back its shine, fluttering lashes wet with fresh tears and a bright red line cutting harshly across the contrasting pale skin of his neck.

He reached for the dull strands he loved to play within his time with Renji before all of _this_ happened, back at the manor when he found him asleep and unknowing of his advances. It was excruciatingly similar that he wished he could go back in time and relive them over and over again for eternity.

A bolt of energy struck him as his hand drew closer, leaving deep gashes across his right arm, traveling from his burnt fingers to just an inch above his elbow. He frowned, finally noticing the near-invisible protective cloak surrounding Renji's fitfully resting figure. The wound was already healing rapidly as it was, but it still stung.

"Are you sound?"

He then saw the healer emerging from a hidden door into the room, striding elegantly with her long legs and stopping just before him, on the other side of the bed Renji was occupying. Her stance was protective and her eyes were sharp and calculative as she waited for his answer. It was her duty to protect the healing _Seika_, especially in his fragile state of mind, after what happened.

Byakuya couldn't help but feel ashamed of his uncontrolled actions. "Yes."

"It is well," she inclined her head and waved her hand across the barrier, dissolving it—she believed his remorse. He watched as she worked, noting the still mangled figure of her hands that he struck with his sword just hours ago. Another shameful wave struck his nerves.

"I will heal," the healer remarked knowingly, her wound was already stitching back together as it was, steadily fusing the skin with the undercurrent of her power.

He nodded at her reassurance and looked back to his sleeping redhead. He stroked the strand of hair closest to his reach, marveling the glowing ethereal light that seeped from within the deity and into every fiber of his being. He looked otherworldly in his death-like sleep, his closed eyes holding wonders that Byakuya feared he would never see ever again. And then a warm pair of chocolate orbs revealed slowly to gaze upon his entranced ones.

Byakuya found beauty in impermanence.

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

\- _Waiting souls_: It's not a canon term, but I'm using it for the souls in Soul Society who were once humans and only waiting for their allotted time in Soul Society until they are reborn as humans again. This is because there really isn't any proper explanation about how the souls age, live, etc. except that souls without _reiryoku_ don't age and get hungry, but even that is inconsistent. So in my theory, there are three types of souls;

type 1) the waiting souls: once humans, waiting to be reborn (don't age, don't get hungry, around 80+ years of time spent before being reborn;

type 2) born in Soul Society, have a low level of _reiryoku_, slowly age, require food and rest, the same level as any common masses, and;

type 3) shinigami-level souls who are either once humans or were born in Soul Society but have a higher level of _reiryoku_, very slowly age, require food and rest.

\- Kiishi _cliff_: remember the cliffside from the new recruits' training in chapter 3? Yay to in-story throwback-slash-reference!


	16. Chapter 16 - Soul

Chapter 16 – Soul

* * *

"_The Shōgo has arrived," a booming voice echoed from outside a vast throne room, and the glimmering white doors of the chamber opened to reveal one Kuchiki Byakuya, his strides firm and his eyes _red.

_A large, imposing figure stood up from where he sat on his enormous throne and descended down the steps to greet the Kuchiki noble. _

"_Welcome back, Byakuya," he greeted, a half-smile graced the sharp planes of his face. _

_Byakuya only nodded back, hastily extended his greetings with a curt bow, "Tennō."_

"_The Seika," he started, but the Tennō held out his hand to signal his understanding of Byakuya's concerns. _

"_Yes," he inclined his head, closing his eyes in deep consternation, "I see him."_

_Then his eyebrows crinkled into a frown of worry, "I fear that what comes next would deeply affect you, my son," he opened his eyes and looked deeply into the ruby reds of the noble before him._

"_Protect him," the Tennō firmly stated, to which Byakuya could only open his mouth in response before a servant interrupted by announcing the Seika's current state as ordered by the head healer of the Tennō's dominion. _

_He left soon after to find the healer who took care of his lieutenant, the question at the tip of his tongue was forgotten. Unbeknownst to him, the Tennō watched on as his back disappeared from the chamber, a saddened look marred his serene expression. _

From yourself_, he thought, sighing as he trudged in barely contained fatigue at what was about to come._

* * *

The red mark never faded. It wasn't a scar, it didn't dry over and remained as nothing more than a fleshy white bump on an otherwise unblemished skin. It stayed as red as the blood that seeped from it the first time the thin layer of skin was cut, even though the healer herself confirmed that the tiny wound had closed seamlessly.

It served as a reminder of his failure to protect the only person that was more precious to him than life itself. And for that, his charge bore the stinging red mark to constantly be reminded that his guardian was also his greatest threat.

And for that—_and so much more_—Abarai Renji drifted away from him.

That didn't mean he completely neglected his duties and went into a subdued, dark corner to be sorry for himself and mull over his depression, however, As a matter of fact, he would admit that he was proudly running away from his most important duty of all to tighten other loose ends that he would otherwise not care about given more... preferable circumstances.

That was why he was hastily descending down to the Soul Palace dimension in search of a certain other neglected shinigami he had left behind. It was also an excuse to punish himself and surrender to admitting all his greatest sins that happened in the span of the past month or less, to the last person he wanted to admit all those things to.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

The orange-haired substitute growled in annoyance at the irritating noble who was walking towards him. "You _bastard_, how long do you expect me to sit around and twiddle my thumbs while you—your _eyes_," he leaned in to take a good lock of the noble's red eyes, to which Byakuya fixed him with a cold, hard glare.

Ichigo took in the sight of the Sixth Division Captain—he was still wearing his captain's uniform, albeit the white _haori_ was gone in place for a black one, his eyes were _red_ and his face was that of a man charged with the most heinous crime. The captain looked decidedly defeated and ashamed, even though he could see that the man tried his best to look as if nothing was wrong—he was quite an open book despite his stoicism.

"What happened?" he finally asked the noble in all seriousness.

Ichigo had been left in the Soul King's lower dimension to recuperate in one of Kirinji's healing ponds—that the man insisted to call it _Kirinden_, quite narcissistic if you asked him—and stranded in Hikifune's bizarre yet comfortable 'city' for the past week, waiting for any news from the noble who disappeared with an unconscious Renji. He had asked the Royal Guards numerous times to let him go see them, but they insisted that he could not possibly follow where the pair had gone. When he asked them what did they mean, they only gave him vague explanation—as per standard protocol, it seems, when it comes to those irritating people.

And now that Kuchiki Byakuya had returned—without Renji in sight—Ichigo's worry grew and grew. The little fact that Byakuya came with his eyes as red as blood, and remembering the explanation from the Gotei 13 he received some month ago about Renji and the whole _Seika _situation, meeting with some guy with red eyes and whatnots, he couldn't help but become suspicious of the noble. Was he the same Byakuya as he was? Or was he the Byakuya from Renji's—the _Seika's_—dreams?

It didn't matter for now because the noble was looking concerningly morose. His expression was guarded tightly but his ruby-red orbs conveyed shame and frustration that his otherwise stoic demeanor could not. If Ichigo wasn't being so scrutinizing, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"I may have done something," the raven started slowly as if he was hesitant to share his secret with the orange-haired substitute in front of him.

"Something that could not be forgiven," he quietly finished, shifting his gaze to somewhere above Ichigo's head as to not look at the other in the eyes.

That was the final alarm.

"Asshole, what did you do?" Ichigo stepped closer, the brute that he was, tugged at the collar of Byakuya's robes and drew the noble close enough that he could see the dilation of the other's alien red eyes.

It seemed that Byakuya wasn't as unguarded as he previously thought, however, because the next thing he knew, the noble's pale, _strong_ fingers wrapped around his hand and _squeezed_.

"Unhand me, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Feeling his bones about to give in and snap, Ichigo released his hold from the noble's collar and tugged his hand free from Byakuya's loosened grip. He warily looked at the dark man in front of him, unconsciously massaging his aching wrist bone.

It was a surprise that the noble was still amenable enough to share with him the event that took place scant a week ago. It seemed that he was not keen of keeping his guilt to himself, and seek to punish himself by telling Ichigo, of all people, of his woes.

He retold the event from the time he entered the healer's chamber, not mentioning the facts that he deemed not important for the substitute to know at the moment—like his background, the _dimension_ he was in, _who _he met beforehand—and skipped to the part where he found Renji awake with fear in his eyes. He told Ichigo of the clear as the day visions and memories he saw broadcasted from Renji's unstable mind, his fingers clenched tightly as he narrated what Renji's awakening affect. When he came to the end of his story, he paused.

"I did not know what came over me," he murmured lowly, "my mind was foggy and my body moved on its own. All I could feel was... _anger_. And all I could think about was retribution."

"The next thing I know, I had my sword in my hands as I gaze into his eyes," he swallowed, the memory was fresh and vivid in his eyes as the drop of blood still staining the forgotten _Senbonzakura_, "If I hadn't been conscious by then, I—"

He stumbled as he _felt_ the unforgiving touch of a tightly balled fist against his left cheek, he could hear the sound of bones crunching in protest and the substitute before him cursed at his dislocated wrist.

"You _fucking—_" the orange-haired shinigami bellowed, his tone loud to hide the pain as he mercilessly snapped the bone back in place, "you _said it_. You said that you will _kill yourself to protect him._"

"And now you're the one who _hurt him!_"

"He killed my wife!" Byakuya raised his voice, not to be outdone by the yelling shinigami. He could feel his control wavered and his _reiatsu_ lashed around the area.

"That's not in his control!" Ichigo growled in frustration, "you said it yourself, asshole! She was already _dying_, and he didn't _choose _to be what he is—"

Byakuya snapped, "he _killed a lot more_ than just her."

That got Ichigo to quiet down. But it was not because he gave in and relent to Byakuya's own anger, but it was a shocked, utterly horrified silence. Not at what Byakuya told him Renji did, but at the noble himself.

Ichigo couldn't honestly believe what he heard just came out of the noble's mouth. "So now you're blaming him again?" he looked disbelievingly at the raven, "after what happened? What you did, _knowingly_?"

"Open your eyes, Byakuya," he whispered, shaking his head "you're _losing_ him."

"And if that's what you want then I will _gladly_ take him from you," Ichigo declared in conviction, looking at the noble in challenge.

Byakuya's vermillion eyes narrowed at that.

* * *

Abarai Renji was found walking briskly to an unknown destination while the healer trailed behind, struggling to catch up with his long legs. He just got back to his feet after a week of constant surveillance by the healer, his body prodded and his mind assessed very thoroughly.

All the while he remained silent, accepting and cooperative, if not for the fact that he refused to see or even acknowledge his captain whenever the man entered the chamber, only to stand by the door as if waiting for Renji to invite him in.

He would usually turn to the other side of the bed and closed his eyes tightly, wishing the other would leave as quickly as possible. For a time, the raven did, until he tried to move closer and _touch_ Renji only to find fear and guilt entrenched deep into the redhead's chocolate eyes and the red, _red_ mark that was glaring against the pale skin that he was forced to look away.

Byakuya never visited his healing room ever since. And it served Renji good, or so he convinced himself. He was unable to face the noble after knowing of his past. It was too much, too shameful of him to even try to think about it. He was not being his usual, steadfast self, but he found himself an alien in his own body in the past few months.

He didn't own his body as much as he didn't own his soul. That fact, he knew deep within his conscious. He owned nothing for he was nothing but a—

"_Seika_-sama, I implore you to not be so—"

Renji turned on his heels to face the healer dead in the eye. "I wish to see Him."

The healer stopped in her chase of the tall redhead and quieted in the authoritative tone he took. She looked him over, her enchanted eyes scrutinizing his physical form to see any disturbances that may have any long term effects that she hadn't been able to fix, and his mental state to see if he was still as fragile as the week before. She found resolve in his eyes, whether it was good or bad, she couldn't tell. But she knew that she couldn't hold him to her healing chamber any longer.

"Of course, my lord."

Renji nodded at her assent and continued on his long strides, his feet taking him down numerous and extraordinarily large halls that his mind had effortlessly supplied to him to reach his desired destination. Not long after he was standing in front of a large double door guarded with two incredibly huge, humanoid guards who looked at him with a shocked expression and scrambled to open the door at his gesture. It was almost laughable how they would stumble around in his comparably smaller presence, just because he was...

He shook his head and braced himself, urging his mind out of all unnecessary musings until he was devoid of thoughts and his heart beating steadily, ready to face the being within the chamber.

The Tennō was already expecting him when he walked into the vast chamber.

The majestic being smiled and spread his arms, his voice a soothing lullaby as he welcomed Renji. "Little One."

And Renji didn't know why, didn't bother to stop it, as his tight expression fell apart and a frustrated tear trailed down his eye the moment the Tennō called him with such warmth and nostalgia.

"Father..." he whispered weakly, and the next thing he knew he was wrapped in an enormous hug, his face buried into the Tennō's majestic robes as his arms dangled helplessly.

At last, he was at peace, the beautiful sensation of his entire being enveloped by warm light and beautiful haven that he never wanted to part from suffused into his very being and turned him into a creature of light.

It didn't last, however, because he had made his mind. _Nothing is permanent_, he grimly thought as the embrace turned cold.

His shifted uncomfortably, signaling to the Tennō that the imminent future he had foreseen was already starting.

"Why did you do it?" _Why did you erase my memory of such a horrendous past?_

"To spare you from the pain," the being said quietly, murmuring into the crown of vermillion hair as he squeezed the smaller deity in his arms.

"It was my burden to bear," Renji snarled, pulling away from the once comforting embrace, angry tears soaking his cheeks and he glared at the Tennō with contempt.

"Doesn't this remind you of someone?" he asked finally, "to take the lives of thousands to awaken an entity for 'the greater good'?"

_Yes it does_, the deity thought. He had admitted it in his mind and he had seen the resemblance as clear as the daylight.

Aizen Sousuke.

Any other being would accuse of such similarity, but even one with a minuscule of wisdom left in his heart would deny, that the contemptuous mortal was misguided in his ways, his idea of 'good' skewed and twisted.

But everyone is just in their own mind. Every villain makes grand heroes in their own tales. He had no right to say otherwise.

"You are a hypocrite, Father," Renji lashed viciously, "you put me there to stop evil when you created a _curse_."

"You are _not_ a curse!" the Tennō bellowed in warning, daring Renji to speak another word that spoke of his misplaced judgments, and with a more quiet tone he continued, "you are the force of good, Renji."

"Then why does the force of 'good' demands the souls of thousands?" the redhead snapped in retaliation.

The Tennō sighed, he knew that whatever reasons he threw at the redhead before him would fall on deaf ears as he continued to blame himself and his existence. But the next words that came from the _Seika_'s weakened voice froze him.

"Why did you give me a soul?"

* * *

"Are you implying your feelings for him, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Kuchiki Byakuya voiced lowly, a calm underlying the strong current of threats ready to be executed at moment's notice.

_When you know he is mine?_

"And if I am?" Ichigo stood his ground, his voice was unwavering as he glared on to the noble.

Truth be told, he didn't know why he said what he said, why he implied that he loved Renji. The notion itself was alien, but not unwelcome in his mind. He had cared for the redhead for as long as they were friends, his wild yet kind redhead a colorful addition to his life, with Rukia in tow. He always thought that he had a crush on the petite raven until he realized he had always looked at her the way he was looking at his sisters—she even reminded him of Karin. And then he started looking at Renji in a different light.

He started to notice how the redhead did things, how he tied his hair up in that impossibly high ponytail, how good he was at cooking and how he would _love_ to have him cook for him for the rest of his life, how he would look almost enticing with his casual white kimono and how he would be overly dramatic about certain things that made Ichigo wanted to squeeze his cheeks. How he would be obsessed over his appearances, even going so far as removing the tattoo on his forehead, and coming out looking even more attention-grabbing than before. How people would constantly surround him for his warm and sunny aura.

At first, he was weirded out by his thoughts and feelings for the redhead, but the more they grew closer as friends, the more he cared and wanted to see him smile and laugh that annoyingly boisterous laugh of his. It wasn't until a few months ago that things started going sour for Renji and it was a rare treat to see him looking happy. And it was a more frequent theme to stood on and watch as the lieutenant struggled to keep his expression in check and his shoulders from trembling while he would open up about his situation to Ichigo.

_The redhead would sigh morosely as he stared off into the horizon as they sat on the porch inside the Kuchiki Manor, "I never tell anyone this, Ichigo, just to let you know... Rukia, she... she can't possibly understand. She practically thinks her brother is a god or something, you know? I don't know if I can stand any more of this whole 'protect Renji' charade that he had going on."_

_He would squeeze his arm insecurely and wrinkled his lips as if he didn't want to say something. "He is... he's incapable of understanding people's feelings, Ichigo. He treats me more like an object rather than a person. Shit, I sound like a girl, but..."_

"_Renji," and Ichigo would frown, both in sympathy and anger at the insensitive noble, "hey, that bastard can suck it up, let's bail."_

_He thought that it would cheer the redhead up, maybe even drew a smile. But he just closed himself up even more, drawing away from him._

"_The thing is... he got a point. I'm too risky to be left unchecked," the redhead breathed in a resigned tone, "I may be a weak link for Soul Society. I don't want that."_

It broke Ichigo to see the defeated look in Renji's eyes. And that was long before the revelation of his nature as the _Seika_. And after his imprisonment in the _Muken_, Ichigo never got a chance to see him again, not until a week ago when they stormed Hueco Mundo, only to see the redhead in a death-like state.

And now, learning of his past, what he must've felt, the tremendous amount of guilt of something he couldn't control... the realization that what he feared himself to be was true in the most horrible way imaginable, only to have the person who was supposed to protect him _hurt _and betrayed his trust at his weakest moment.

"I'm tired of seeing you letting him down and hurting him _over_ and _over_ again," Ichigo stated coldly, his tone implying the numerous occasions the redhead was hurt emotionally and physically that he knew the noble knew he had caused.

"If he was mine, I would never let him out of my sight."

Byakuya snarled at the implication, "you _dare lay a claim on—_"

"You _hate_ him, don't you?" Ichigo snapped, "you can't let go of the fact that your _wife_ died and you blamed him for it."

"Don't you speak of my wife," the raven growled, his fingers flexing, itching to strangle the tanned flesh of the _mortal_ in front of him.

"You can't have it both ways, Byakuya. You can't hate him and have him."

"I will kill you." Too bad _Senbonzakura _wasn't there—it wouldn't be a clean-cut after all.

When he was about to make do of his promise, an ominous sensation thumped through his chest as he felt his heart caved in. He grunted as he fell to the ground, barely hearing the voice of the irritable substitute before his eyes widened in realization.

A part of his soul was about to be taken from him.

* * *

It was a vast, barren land amongst lush greeneries and peaceful creeks; the ground dried up, sunken down and several tones darker than the rest of the moist soil surrounding it. By its edge was a sizeable, old Japanese house that seemed to be well-kept despite its age. Visitors of the area would be awed by its condition, archaeologists and historians would swarm the place to learn of its origin, if not for the fact that the house and the area surrounding it was charmed to be invisible to all human senses.

Barragan Louisenbairn took note of his surroundings. "What is this place?"

"It will be our temporary camp until I could acquire us a better headquarters," Aizen Sousuke explained curtly as he took the lead to the abandoned house. The inside was surprisingly clean as if someone took the time to visit and clean the place routinely.

"But why here?" the old Arrancar pressed. He was not keen on being surrounded by the human culture, let alone their... wreckage, even ones as tidily kept as this one.

"I was born here," Aizen told him simply, a smile in his voice as he felt rather than saw the surprised looks of his followers—sans Ichimaru and Tosen, most likely.

He trailed his fingers on antique trinkets left in the room they were in. "It was the Warring States era, in 1579 when Nobunaga encouraged relations with the European to suppress the threat from a powerful Buddhist sect, the Ikkō-Ikki by promoting Christianity through their missionaries. It was around the same time that the Portuguese started to introduce their culture and," he paused, his fingers hovered over an ancient chessboard, following the confused silence of his Arrancars.

"How silly of me." There was no way they would understand a word he just spoke.

"I was a waiting soul until I discovered that I hold a significantly large _reiryoku_ reserve, and thus I became a shinigami," he opted for the simple, vague story of his past instead, "and the rest is history."

"But how did you remember your past?"

"I didn't," he answered, "like all waiting souls, I only hold glimpses of the past that I would rapidly forget not long after. So I studied what I had left and found out about my past life myself. It was helpful that my human family held extensive records of our lineage."

Finishing Aizen's story, there was a contemplative silence that ensued amongst their ranks. Aizen's past raked curiosity for the Arrancars, even Ichimaru and Tosen didn't know much else of his past other than what he had conveyed just now. They never bothered or pestered him about it and he never told them anything past the surface. But seeing his actions in the past few days, with the _Seika_ and his affinity for the deity, it raised questions whether he was somehow involved with the being in the past.

Maybe his human past.

Tier Harribel picked up the question that everyone in the room wanted to ask. "What are we going to do now? How are we going to get to the Soul King's Palace without the _Seika_?"

_What's next?_

Aizen turned to her. "We won't have to."

* * *

"I want this to end."

The Tennō searched for the _Seika's _eyes, for any lingering spark of hope left in the cold, dead eyes.

"Is there no other way?" he asked sadly, knowing the answer to his question already at the forefront of his mind and the defeated being in front of him.

"_Erase the existence of my soul, Father, so I don't have to face this suffering any moment longer."_

"So shall it be done," he whispered as he drew his hands apart and waved them slowly until a glimmering, green orb materialized in front of him.

He wavered, looking at the _Seika_ who stood still with his eyes closed, ready to be whisked away into nothing when the chamber door slammed open with a resounding sound, a cringing crack was heard as one of the enormous doors broke apart from its hinges and fell with a loud thud.

"**No**."

"Byakuya," the Tennō paused, facing the angered creature stalking towards them as if a predator hunting for its prey. But even with the terrifying image that the raven created, the Tennō found himself smiling in relief.

Byakuya gripped the shoulders of a shocked redhead and pulled him close until they were breathing the same air.

"**You are not running from this, Renji**." _You're not running away from me_.

And so he kneeled down in front of his lieutenant for the second time in his life and kissed his feet.

_Forgive me. _

_._

_._

_._

* * *

\- _to be continued -_


	17. Chapter 17 - All That the Light Touches

Chapter 17 – All That the Light Touches

* * *

"Oh dear, this is getting _terribly_ out of hand," Senjumaru Shutara worried her bottom lip between her pearly whites, one of her hands crossed her midsection while the other resting above it, her hand closing over her mouth curled in ire.

The sight she was looking at was decidedly chaotic, even for the Royal Guards standard. It was acceptable if the level of destruction happened upon the lower dimensions—even the Material World, for goodness sake!—but to permanently and irreparably damage an entire city—_her _city? It was only fortunate that she was visiting Hikifune when the... damage, occurred.

Rubbles and falling pieces of structures were floating about in the suspended air of her once beautiful domain, her palace of garments positively shredded with pieces of the colorful cloth she lovingly and beautifully spun fluttering in the air like colorful spring petals—beautiful, yet it was no more than her entire artwork _destroyed_. She wanted to be _angry, _but only found resigned—albeit exhaustively annoyed—acceptance in her mind.

Nothing she could do about it.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Senju," Kirinji cooed, his tone mockingly concerned as he struggled to keep the snickering under control. Senjumaru might think that she was accepting of her woes, but her facial expression spoke otherwise—Kirinji never witnessed such an amusingly _darkened_ look in her face before. That look when you're positively livid yet you can't do anything about it, makes you want to squeeze the life of a small critter just for the heck of it.

"Kindly shut your _trap_, Kirinji, and go muck about in your filthy _ponds_ like the _pig_ you are," Senjumaru glowered as she swiftly turned her face to the _idiot_ who was aware enough of his surrounding to dodge her gigantic needle.

"Dirty mouth you got there for such an _esteemed_ lady—oh, I meant _bitch_," Kirinji antagonized her even more, his feet gliding on the ground as if he was dancing—in drunken stupor if we are going to make an example—avoiding the offensive weapon that was swung about by an enraged Senjumaru.

"Oh, would you two stop it?" Hikifune Kirio snapped at the bickering duo, paying her attention once more to the scene before her.

Closer observation would see that the structures weren't intentionally destroyed, wisps of dark _reiryoku_ could be felt by the Royal Guards' superior senses. It was surely a stunningly explosive one. Yet she couldn't help but frown at the speckles of blood sprayed upon the crumbling stones, from whom she knew it was spilled.

"It will all work out," Ichibe sighed deeply, placing a hand on the shoulder of a significantly _narrower _Hikifune.

"Tell that to the half-dead kid drowning in my _ponds_," Kirinji quipped catching the huff that Senjumaru let put as he 'borrowed' her wording, then paused and adding in a shrug, "again."

Hikifune furrowed her brows, looking up to witness the extent of the damage done by _one_, the towering structure of the Soul King's Palace where he disappeared into was damaged beyond repair.

In the distant sky, the clouds were dark and thunders roared promising stormy nights to come.

* * *

He stared down blankly at the noble who disgraced himself, kneeling on the ground with his head hovering above Renji's feet.

It was bizarre, he thought idly. This was the second time he brought the proud noble down to his knees, and he could never get over the sickening sense of awe at the sight he created for himself. The feeling was alien and he decided that experiencing it once was more than enough to last him a lifetime. The almost euphoric sense of having the power of someone who was much _much _more powerful than he was, someone who never experienced hardship, and having him groveling for mercy at his feet.

He wanted to throw up.

"Don't do this," he whispered, pulling himself back to keep a distance away from the kneeling man.

He realized that sickening feeling was not due to modesty—that was what he felt the first time around. No. He realized that with all the things he knew, all the things he _let happened_, he didn't deserve to have the man asking for _his_ forgiveness, of all people. He didn't want any of it.

So he tried to put a stop to it. "Get up."

"I will not," the noble breathed, gruff tone under his breath while his shoulders tensed in anticipation. Somewhere on the side, the Tennō watched on silently. As he always did.

"_Get up_!"

"No," he persisted, glaring on the ground as if it was to blame for all his problems, "not until you forgive me."

Renji sneered at the decidedly petulant answer, "so now you're forcing your will on me?"

"No!" Byakuya shot up in shock, his eyes wide as he looked at Renji with horror. The redhead jumped at the sudden boom of the noble's voice, forcing himself to remain still and not cower in fear and _guilt_ as those red eyes stare back at him.

"Perhaps it is better that you work this out alone," the Tennō's voice could be heard somewhere to the side, leisurely distancing himself from the two.

"Father," Renji started, not wanting Him to leave.

"I," the Tennō inclined his head, pointedly looking at Byakuya who was looking back at him with a questioning gaze, "will descend, for a while. To see that dying friend you left, Byakuya."

"Father—"

But the Tennō shook his head and smiled, he walked away and in his place stood a smaller, more human version of himself, and vanished out of the throne room.

After the Tennō left, the silence stretched in the chamber. Byakuya contemplated going back to his knees for a moment until he heard the sound of Renji's robes swished as he also moved towards the gaping entrance—courtesy of Byakuya's incredible fist.

"Renji," he called as he reached for the redhead's hand, hoping he would listen to him, hesitating to touch the skin as he feared for painful rejection and repulsion. He was well aware of the trauma his redhead had endured during his stasis, the mental assaults Aizen brought upon his mind and the torturous memories. He was there, witnessing it firsthand.

No.

"I have seen what you saw," he tried again, watching as Renji paused in his steps, "_everything_."

Not simply... a witness.

The horror. The nightmare. The torture.

By me. _By me. By me._

_Hands, dark, strong, gripping, tearing apart, destroying. A scream, begging for mercy, begging for forgiveness. _

_His blood. _

The flawless skin of a frail neck marred by a scar as red as his flowing mane.

As red as Byakuya's eyes.

_I... did this. _

He shuddered, shaking his head as he tried to stop the assault of dark images persisting in his mind like a plague, his delusion painting his hands in _red, red blood—_

"_You didn't eat breakfast, did you captain?" __Abarai Renji asked with exasperation clear in his voice, but his eyes holding a glimmering twinkle of amusement._

"_Honestly, this is the fifth time this week, Captain you're gonna send yourself to an early grave!"_

He couldn't breathe. His hand was still hovering in the air uncertainly, his eyes blinked owlishly as the imaginary sound of his lieutenant admonishing him for not eating breakfast time and time again entered his mind out of nowhere.

_Why show me this?_ he thought to himself, the sting of _something_ that was about to seep out of his eyes making him frown, _longing_ for the simpler times.

"_Captain Kuchiki?" _

And so he was pulled back from his wistful stupor. Before him, _his_ Renji was standing still, looking at him as if he wanted to say something—his expression pained, as it always had lately. _I did this. _

_Fix it._

He inhaled sharply, eyes unwavering as he pinned the redhead in his place, "I understand if you are afraid of me because of that. But I refuse to accept that you lose to your fears because I know you are a strong soul," he said slowly, putting emphasis in each word that he _wished_ Renji would understand, "your will overcomes the greatest adversities. Even myself, once. Do you remember?"

_Do you remember how you opened my eyes, my _heart_ to those around me? To my own sister?_

_To you?_

He expected the poisonous response that he got in return, "this is not the fucking time to wax _poetic_—"

"I will stumble, and I will fall," Byakuya continued, seemingly unhindered by the redhead's bitter words as he stepped closer to Renji, his eyes grew soft as he watched his disgruntled façade.

"I will even stray far away from my path, I will succumb to the darkness and my monsters, as I will hurt everyone surrounding me for I couldn't control its rampage. Even then," he stopped, his face inches away from the stiff Seika.

"Even then I know," he eyed the redhead, and let his eyes shift lower to observe the seizing fingers clenching tightly on themselves, evidence of restraint, and perhaps, delayed shock.

He reached for the trembling fists firmly, letting out a small, indistinguishable smile as he felt them still, "my soul will forever be intertwined to you, and I will always find my way back."

Renji, frozen as he was, immediately snapped back at the gentlest touch of the noble's lips against his knuckles, the touch lingering like cherry blossom petals fluttering on his skin. Like a curse.

Byakuya's gaze was as sharp as it was soft, firm and unwavering yet it carried to Renji a quality akin to understanding that inexplicably made his body warm. As if he understood Renji more than he understood himself.

"You are the Light in my soul, Renji. Without you... I am simply a mindless beast."

At first, he didn't know what to say to that. He suspected that he didn't even think at that moment—_couldn't_. He simply stared at the noble, though his gaze far as if he was seeing something that no one else could see, memories nearly forgotten—of their beginning.

He wanted to succumb. To give in and surrender to his desires. Forgiveness was right in front of him, offering himself in a silver platter and he wanted to do nothing but to _relent. _

He sneered at himself. "It's all... _nice_, of you," he finally said, his voice was firm and harsh, but he still found that he couldn't look at the raven in the eye, "_Captain_."

Byakuya let himself be suspended in anticipation. Bitter words it may have been, he was not about to let his emotion run rampant as it did the last time—controlling him. And he suspected that it was what his former lieutenant was trying to taunt out of him.

"But I am not what you think I am."

"I murdered people," Renji continued viciously, his fists clenched until he could _smell_ his own blood.

_I want it to end. _

"My own _friends_," he snarled, furiously wiping his hand against his eyes, preventing anything to fall down. His other hand was clenched to his side, he could feel the blood seeping from his tightly closed fingers, trickling down his skin like tears.

_I want you to save me. _

"_Your wife._" The final nail in the coffin. His voice was full of self-hatred but then he knew the other wouldn't be able to detect it.

_Save me. _

Byakuya gritted his teeth and clenched his hands.

He thought that he was over this. He thought that, perhaps, after knowing what the redhead was about to do in his absence, what he was about to _lose_, he would be over his grievances and fury and he would wake up and _save _Renji from himself.

He thought he was above pettiness. But here he was, doubting everything he had said, edging on taking them all back and gut the redhead in front of him because he couldn't stop mourning and _hating_ and he wanted to unleash everything that he was on to the person standing before him, who he _knew _was deliberately antagonizing him.

He knew that Byakuya couldn't control himself, he couldn't rein in the emotions, the _destructiveness that his very nature was_.

"You are not going to manipulate my feelings, Renji," he growled, the tone of his voice taking a wild turn; that of a caged beast.

This is what he was. A beast in humanoid flesh tightly wrapped around itself. And the figure before him was his _willing prey_.

And so it was, for Renji. His wish. Either having the Tennō permanently erase his soul, or being _consumed_ by the wrathful monster.

* * *

A soft sound of hot water splashing against smooth, polished rocks echoed in the large, seemingly open area.

"That jerk got me good," Kurosaki Ichigo grumbled, hissing when he moved a still torn muscle of his ribs, "_shit_."

It was a purely accidental and sudden blast, but he decided that the raven-haired noble was so going to get it from him when he was all healed. The bastard dared to explode in front of him not once, but _twice_ in the span of a week—right after he was healing from the previous one at that.

However, he found himself frowning at the _why_.

He recalled the incident once more, picturing himself taunting the obviously compromised noble—however honest he was at that moment, he knew it was insensitive and inappropriate to say what he said given the circumstances. He could see the noble reaching for his side, reaching for a blade that wasn't there, and seemingly reminded of something. Where was _Senbonzakura?_ he remembered wondering at the time, but realized that the current Byakuya wouldn't need his _zanpakuto_ to kill Ichigo nice and easy. So he readied his own sword.

And then the noble froze, his eyes impossibly wide and his pupils dilated as he collapsed on the ground—_and roared_.

"_**NO**__!"_

It was... it was a terrible sound. It was worse than his Call back when they were in Hueco Mundo. It started off as a discernable speech that swiftly ascending in pitch until it was inhuman and raw, something that couldn't be coming out of a living being's mouth. It was the sound of Hell's Gate opening and the demons screeching from beyond the veil. A nightmare-inducing sound that brought Ichigo to his knees, unable to move and speak as he thought his ears would bleed. He recalled cursing, wishing for any of the Royal Guards to come and interfere—_do something to tame the monster. _

The explosion right after was much—_much—_worse after his unfortunate experience. It was all due to the parts of his clothing sewn together with Senjumaru's Ōken cloth that he survived from the blast of destructive force.

But never mind that he almost died from the incident. Ichigo was more concerned with what was going on that triggered such... horrifying reaction out of the noble. His gut told him it had something to do with his redhead, and the more he entertained the thought the more concerned he became and he was about to jump out of the pond he was soaking in when—

"Are you Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"_Shit!" _He yelped—though he would never admit it—and forcefully submerged his entire body in the murky water until only his head was left afloat.

"Man, knock will ya?!" he snapped without a thought, and froze as he turned his head to the man standing near the entrance, "I mean, err—_fuck, _who the fuck are you?"

The man seemed amused as he covered his lips with one hand, his eyes holding a twinkle that irritated Ichigo even from where he was across the pond. The man, looking middle-aged, not unlike his own father, was hulking and large, yet his limbs were manicured with such precision they looked like the musculature of Greek statues he saw at museums. He was possibly as big as Ichibe even without the scruffy appearance—and that man was _big_. His wheat-colored hair framed his equally pale, squared features and his white robes lined his strong figure in a simple yet gallant drip to the floor, golden threads embellished the trims with elaborate designs and symbols.

What made Ichigo _sure _that the man might be no other than the Almighty God Himself was the heavenly light cast from the man's entire physique—all he needed was a halo on his head, in Ichigo's opinion.

But then he remembered he was born and raised a Shinto believer— and he was also certain that God wouldn't look like a 'blondified' Japanese Yakuza.

And what seemed even more suspicious to him was that the man did not have a single bit of _reiatsu_—or rather, Ichigo couldn't sense it. It might have been the freaky water that dulled his senses down—Kirinji did say that no one should stay in the ponds for very long lest they want to basically evaporate.

Or it might have been because that man was something else entirely.

He cursed himself as he remembered he left _Zangetsu_ with the rest of his uniform far across the water, laid down innocently on a high enough slab so they wouldn't get wet.

"I have never heard that much foul language being used in such short a time," he heard the man say, the amusement clear in his tone. He leisurely walked to a nearby rock formation that was deemed dry enough and took a seat. Ichigo silently observed the man's movements, nerves wracking his body when the man didn't even react when he deliberately blasted his _reiatsu _to his general direction—as if he couldn't even _feel _it. The other simply smiled into the steaming water, running his large hand across the surface.

Kirinji said that if an otherwise healthy person was to make contact with the healing water, it would instantly decompose them.

But the man simply sighed loudly and turned to Ichigo again. "Let's just say I'm waiting for certain people to make up."

"...what?"

The entrance was busted open once again when Kirinji Tenjiro himself made his way inside. "Tennō-sama, that way is—oh, you've already met him."

"Damnit what's with people barging in when I'm in a fucking bath?" Ichigo snapped his arms up in exasperation, not even caring that he was in the nude anymore.

"It's the Kirinden you spineless—"

"Kirinden, fuckwad-den, _whatever_."

The Tennō chuckled, prompting the pair to shut up.

"I heard that a certain raven did that to you," he spoke in a knowing tone, catching the still healing wounds on the orange-haired substitute body, the bruising on his ribs were large, along with the gashes across his torso and back, which were all steadily healing and fading under the almost miraculous properties of the hot spring.

"Oh, it was _far _worse when he first got in, I assure you Tennō-sama," Ichibe's booming voice cackled through the open entrance, followed by Senjumaru Shutara and Hikifune Kirio. Oetsu was nowhere in sight, possibly tending to his precious _zanpakuto_'s in his.. own world.

"Great, just invite the whole army in while you're at it," Ichigo grumbled, slightly disappointed that he couldn't continue his conversation—if once could call it that—with the stranger still sitting calmly on his rock despite the appearance of the Royal Guards themselves. It further cemented his belief that the man was important—enough that they called him in such reverence.

_And didn't Tennō means God? He was God, after all? Nothing made sense anymore_, Ichigo complained internally, but finding himself strangely at ease at the bizarre circumstances. Maybe he had grown accustomed to a certain _lifestyle_—and that thought scared him. He certainly didn't was his whole life to be filled with chaos and danger and constantly _dying_ with whatever problem the world thrust to him.

"Oh, dear, Kurosaki Ichigo," Senjumaru gasped dramatically as she made her way into the area, pulling Ichigo out of his thoughts to look where she was looking at him, down,_ down_—oh. "oh _my_."

He could _hear_ the laughter in her voice, even as she covered her mouth with her sleeve as if in shock—when he knew for certain that she was hiding a gleeful smile. That didn't stop him from squeaking embarrassingly and covered his—_delicate—_area with his hands. Even the hot water couldn't make his face any redder.

"Would you all be amendable," the Tennō spoke again, diffusing the light atmosphere in the open chamber with a quiet smile, "if I speak to him alone?"

Everyone seemed to sober up and hastily bowed low to the sitting figure, who was looking at Ichigo with a strange look on His wise face. He didn't even bother verbally heeding Ichibe's excuse as he ushered the other Royal Guards out of the hot springs, opting to simply raise His fingers in affirmation of their departure. This was a different person than the one who came in. Or maybe it was the only one all along, masterful of acts and deceit, yet now suddenly crumpling His fine façade and tossed it to the waters.

"Now, Kurosaki," He spoke again after a long silence, His golden eyes trained on Ichigo's increasingly concerned ones.

"Where shall we begin?"

* * *

_The loud growl coming from the creature a distant away made Renji jump in surprise. _

"_What is that, Father?" he tilted his head, gesturing to the creature chained to the ground. _

"_That, Little One," the Tennō smiled, "is the _Shōgo_."_

"_I imparted in it the _Shōken. _It shall be your guardian." _

"_Guardian?" Renji wrinkled his nose at the creature, "It's a beast."_

_And indeed it was. The creature was humongous, its dark fur long and seemed to suck the light from the bright white sun. The thick, enchanted chains circled its four limbs and an especially thick chain was connected to a spiked collar around its neck, the fur around the chained areas matted down with substances that the _Seika_ suspected as its lifeblood. It didn't seem to bother the growling creature, massive as it was yet seemingly helpless and vulnerable. Like a captured demon. _

"_It is."_

_Renji blinked in confusion and stared at the Tennō as if he grew a second head—it was not the first time, after all. _

"_It is a mindless beast, it will trample everything in its path and destroy all that is living."_

"_Why—"_

"_For it has no soul," the Tennō pointed. Renji frowned at that. Why would the Tennō put such a powerful weapon like the Shōken inside the mindless creature? It wouldn't be useful—it would be the exact opposite of useful if the creature was let loose. No, it would be disastrous. _

"_Its essence, in its most basic nature, is Chaos—unbridled, unhinged, uncontrollable Chaos," that confirmed his concerns, then the Tennō continued ignoring Renji's increasing worry, "to put a soul in it requires certain, ah, _qualities_ to balance its chaotic nature."_

"_Qualities?"_

_The Tennō nodded. _

"_Light; beautiful and pure that draws even a mindless beast to its energy," he explained, a wistful look in his face as his eyes softened, looking down at the redhead standing next to him. _

"_In essence," he imparted, "it needs you."_

"_Me?" Renji was taken aback. He scrunched his eyebrows thoughtfully and then looked back at the creature still rampaging in captivity just a distance away. _

"_Because your soul, your very existence is the embodiment of Light. You will be its anchor; its guide, as it will be your guardian."_

_Renji looked at his hands, willing Light to come forth and warmed his fingers with Its glow. It had always been second nature to him. He was born with it. _

"_Now come," the Tennō inclined his head, gesturing for Renji to come closer to the creature, his mien reassuring that it won't hurt him. But Renji was a slight bit skeptical. _

_He came in closer anyway. _

"_Um, hey there, uh, Shōgo?" he started uncertainly, his fingers halfway up in greeting, forgetting that it was not a person who would understand the gesture, and clenched his fists in embarrassment—even though there was only the Tennō standing several feet away. _

_All he received was a long growl in return, growing increasingly louder the closer he got. He flinched when it tried to swipe its massive claws at him, the chains holding its limbs in place would not even let its arm move more than a quarter way up from its strained position. Its legs were not even able to move one measly inch. The more Renji looked at the creature the more he grew to sympathize with it. _

"_I'm gonna," he started, gulping, "I'm gonna touch you now. Don't hurt me," he whispered at the end. He willed Light to come forth from his soul, coursing down his soul stream and channeling It through his hands. _

_Renji opened his palms and imparted the Light to the _Shōgo_, the stream of energy coursing gently through the air. The agitated creature was thrashing relentlessly and roared louder and louder as if it knew that it was in danger—as if anything could hurt it but its own self. _

_The moment the Light touched it, it grew silent, Renji approached the still creature cautiously yet surely until he was but an arm-length away from it. The creature's eyes were a dark pool of nothingness as it stared at Renji in an alien calmness. The beast was tamed, for a while. The Light was still coursing from his hands to the creature, as Renji reached up to touch its enormous face. _

"_It has yet a name," the Tennō said beside him, putting his immense hand on Renji's shoulder as he watched the creature change before his very eyes. The deed was done._

_The _Shōgo_ was born. _

"He_, Father," Renji pressed, not looking at the Tennō as his fascination grew and grew the more the creature warped its shape, its growls steadily growing softer into pained whimpers, its inhuman qualities diminishing until what stood before him was a man with long, raven hair. _

_He looked at the crouching man warmly, nodding to himself. "Byakuya."_

_The eyes that stared back was glowing red_.

* * *

**-** _to be continued -_

* * *

**Tennō Trivia #1**

He's 10 feet tall and proportionately wide, a giant dwarfing most characters in the Bleach universe—except the Menos and certain Hollows, but they aren't exactly 'characters'.

* * *

Back to three weeks... eheh.

Okay, so the last few chapters had no action whatsoever, sorry! But I gotta try to develop the _romance_ too guys, there's another genre I put there besides adventure xD

I think it's more emotionally realistic to not just have them resolve everything in one shot. Renji's guilt is too strong and Byakuya's... _animalistic_ disposition is too intrinsic to his nature that he couldn't possibly remain with patience and calmness when he had the strong-headed redhead constantly taunting him to snap.

And kinda, a small bit of Byakuya's background thrown in there. Hoped it answered at least part of your questions to Byakuya's strange and out of character behavior and disposition in the past chapters. And I swear I'm gonna write Aizen's past! This story is kinda slow burn, in my opinion, so bear with me XD

**Please tell me your thoughts on this story. While I will try to continue writing it regardless, it would be nice to know if I've done things right, or if there are things that I should revise or do better in the future :)**

**Thank you for your feedback!**


	18. Chapter 18 - Beast

Chapter 18 – Beast

* * *

_What separates man from beast?_

.

_Cognitive reasonings? Emotional governance?_

.

_Then what of a beast that is capable of both... yet unable to use them?_

* * *

_He was more an animal than a person, baring his sharpened teeth to the cowering servant before him, the object of his fury. His eyes were _black_ and his fingers flexing with protruding claws ready to strike, the evidence of what once was scalding hot tea spilled on the ground, the ceramic cup was shattered to pieces. It was the servant's fault. _

_His body was vibrating with overzealous excitement at the prey who dared to hurt his Light. A shift in the pitch-black eyes to his side showed the reddish burn on the redhead's hand, and it was all that he needed to _attack.

"_No, Byakuya!" Renji yelled, gripping the raven's hunched shoulders at the ready, running his uninjured hand soothingly across the wide expanse of the raven's back, the tips of his fingers glowing with Light. Slowly but surely, the strain he used to hold the beast down was lessening and he dared to release Byakuya's stilled form, nodding to the quivering servant boy to scramble with an apologetic smile. _

_He ran his fingers through his hair, hissing when he remembered he was using the burnt side. The beast was still growling from within the raven, a quiet yet dangerous rumble bubbling from his core as he watched the raw reddish skin being hidden by Renji's other hand. _

_He took the wounded hand in his and let out a sound that almost sounded like a burr, soothingly kissing the hand he held between his, even as it rapidly healed. Renji watched quietly at the display, the raven behaving more like an animal than a person capable of thoughts despite his appearance. Sweet as it may be, it concerned Renji. _

"_Use your words, Byakuya, you're not a mindless beast anymore," the redhead sighed, shaking his head. It has been months since the raven's birth from Chaos, he showed signs of rapid intelligence, understanding speech and conveying them. Yet when it comes to emotional governance, he seemed—uncontrollable. Erratic. Wild._

_Dangerous._

"_I can't control it," Byakuya finally spoke, his voice was rough from the growls he produced most of the time—holding a wilder quality than that made by normal people—yet his red eyes spoke of his shame. The anger, the darkness. The Chaos. He couldn't control them like he desperately wanted to. _

_Not entirely. He feared of hurting his Light in his mindless state. _

"_Yes you can," Renji persisted, smiling proudly—Byakuya was still capable of shame for his actions, after all, that's a really good thing—"I will guide you, remember?"_

What separates man from beast?

.

"_I won't let you stray."_

_._

His restraint.

* * *

Ichigo would've thought it a tall tale filled with nothing but nonsense and horse dunk if it wasn't spoken by the man who was obviously holding an enormous authoritative power on—well, _everything_.

"I didn't know..." that Byakuya wasn't even a _person_ in the first place. That—that he was...

Well, Ichigo was nothing short of speechless.

"Not many does," the Tennō smiled, his eyes holding that faraway look as if reminiscing the past—tens of millennia ago, perhaps. It was bizarre to even grasp the concept of someone older than the Captain-Commander—and looked comparably younger—some _being_ who may have witnessed the firsts of humanity. Yet he felt nothing but numb awe at the revelation.

"Why are you telling me this?"

The Tennō blinked slowly, shrugging his shoulders in an offhanded manner unsuitable of his stature. "Oh, nothing," he pursed his lips, and then looked at Ichigo sheepishly, "I have nothing to do." _whilst a certain duo sort things out_, was left out of his explanation.

Taking on a more serious expression, he gave Ichigo a strangely sharp look. "I just wanted you to know, in case you needed the information," he added, eyes as if observing Ichigo like a hawk.

It was a test.

Surely it was.

Why would the all-knowing being in front of him procure him such sensitive information?

Ichigo held up his hands in self-defense, "I... I'm not gonna use it against him."

He waited and waited as the Tennō did not seem to budge from his threatening glare. Despite his calm outlook, Ichigo could feel his _reiatsu_ spiking and lashing about, as if readying him for a fight, anticipating—in excitement.

"I know," the Tennō finally broke the tense atmosphere and smiled.

With that, the malicious atmosphere was dissipated—Ichigo's own _reiatsu _was calmed, even subdued despite its wild, Hollow nature. His Hollow did not even seem to be there, farther away at the deepest corner of his mind, unchallenging.

_He was an enigma_, Ichigo decided in awe and a touch of fear as he kept his gaze on the Tennō. He deliberately increased the pressure in the room with a simple statement, blatantly giving off the impression that he was testing Ichigo for his loyalty, as if baiting him to give in. He was capable of subduing Ichigo's _reiatsu_ without brute force of his own _reiatsu_.

He was formidable.

"You are trustworthy," the Tennō voiced lowly, the tone was light yet the substitute understood the gravity behind each and every word he uttered now, "he needed someone else who knew of his... disposition, when push comes to shove."

Despite the cryptic nature of the statement, Ichigo wondered how could it have been so clear in his head—was the Tennō in his head? The near horrifying realization of what those words mean dawned on him like a thousand bricks.

_Use his Chaos to fight those invincible enemies. _

_Use his weakness for Renji against him, when he went out of control._

_For Renji. He will understand. _

Because Chaos is erratic. Renji would not be able to—or even wanted to, in his good conscience—use the raven like that.

The Tennō wanted him to sacrifice his morality and _use Byakuya, manipulate his emotions when the need becomes desperate—_

For Renji.

"I guess I never stand a chance, huh," Ichigo exhaled shudderingly. He pushed himself out of the water, using the rocks as leverage. He was quiet as he moved to his uniform, putting them on methodically, not caring that someone was watching his every move. It was numbness, he decided.

Truth be told, he didn't know what to make of the revelations. To know that they were bound... whether it was Fate, Destiny... or their own emotions for each other. He could see the undeniable truth in Byakuya's eyes as he was close to killing Ichigo for proclaiming that Renji should be his. The raven's Chaos was talking in his turn, but the man behind the monster was not backing down either.

And Renji...

"He cares for you," the deep voice of the Tennō broke through his musings.

_He's in my head, all right._ Somehow, the thought didn't frighten him. _Numbness_, he reminded himself.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile through his aching chest—the compressed feeling as if his heart was being squeezed by unforgiving hands.

"That would have to do," he whispered to himself.

* * *

_This will not do_, Byakuya thought viciously, snapping his jaws at the beast inside. Fighting against oneself, he decided, was the most gruesome battle one will ever face. Especially if you are the embodiment of Chaos itself.

His instinct was telling him to get rid of whatever irksome existence that was ruffling his feathers. But his mind screamed that _it is Renji, do not hurt your Light!_

It was naïve of him to think that whatever bound them together would prevent or even stop him from doing anything rash—especially to his Light. It was foolish of him to think that it was akin to a fairytale story, that he would overcome everything in the name of his feelings for Renji.

Yet here he was, seconds apart from putting out the Light for good.

"You are not going to manipulate my feelings, Renji," he grounded out through his gritted teeth.

"Those are your feelings," the redhead said softly, as if mercy wrapped around bitter truth, "your own emotions."

It was an undeniable fact that Hisana was dead before her time, because of Renji's Awakening. It was completely normal to feel lost, to grieve, and to feel anger. Hate. Especially towards the one who was the cause of such deeply entrenched hate. Even Renji would hate someone who hurt his family—he could feel the anger bubbling at the thought of Rukia or his Captain being harmed by someone.

It was only natural that Chaos would feel such dark emotions a million times over. It is the absence of control, after all—emotions running free through a limitless boundary, uncontrollable actions and the bliss of thoughtless deeds. Truly presenting imagery of a mindless beast rampaging in its path towards its own mindless freedom. Peace was abysmal in the face of such raw destructive force.

"They are warped and deluded, a fragment of the beast sealed inside," Byakuya shook his head, "they are not mine," he stated as if to convince himself more than the Light before him. Even he knew...

Renji simply wanted to be erased. He didn't want to die—nor did he want to be killed. He wanted to disappear within his shell of _Seika_, to simply be a holy object incapable of emotions and memories. At least then he was less harm than he was now.

But of course they were bound together. Their souls literally intertwined, binding his Light with the raven's Chaos. Renji was the guiding Light that shines on Chaos' path. Without a soul, without _his soul..._ Byakuya would—

He would _destroy_.

So of course he would never be able to disappear. Of course he would have to bear his cross. The cowardly way out was simply _not there_ for him, even as a choice. He felt stupid, knowing that the Tennō probably understood that already—more than anyone—and watching him desperately scrambling to run away from what his existence caused.

Renji didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. He could see that Byakuya was trying so hard for him, so hard to not hurt him. He could see the tortured soul of the man trying his damnedest to reign in the Chaos that was part of his soul. He was still fighting his battle, while Renji wished to flee like a cowardly hyena standing alone in the midst of a lion's den.

And yet.

_What separates man from beast?_

.

"Byakuya, can't you see?" he let out weakly, unable to face the raven even as he looked within himself, _into himself_, "your beast is you."

**Your beast is you. **

He could not stay in the room any longer. The atmosphere was suffocating him.

.

_Is it the fight or flee instinct?_

_._

"We are not finished, Renji," Byakuya growled as he followed the redhead out of the room.

"Yes," Renji responded tightly, not looking back. "we are."

_._

_Is it how a man would face his fears and overcome boundaries?_

_._

Maybe for now. Or maybe forever. All he knew was that he did not want to pursue resolution right that moment. He couldn't. He didn't want to wash away the guilt, for it was his. If he couldn't disappear with his sins, then he wanted to carry its crushing burden with him.

Perhaps he would heal, in time.

But for now, he took a deep breath as he walked away from the chamber. If he couldn't cease to exist yet, then the least he could do was do something productive in the meantime.

_._

_No. It is—_

_._

"We got work to do."

_._

_Nothing_.

* * *

It was 'surprise-Ichigo-with-the-appearance-of-people-he-least-expected-day', it seemed, because as soon as he walked out of the Kirinden with the Tennō in tow—though uncomfortable as it was since the 'god' was walking behind him—two people he truly didn't expect to see any time soon showed up.

One was a pleasant welcome, but the other... well, he could still feel the _burn_ on his ribs.

It seems that he wasn't the only one surprised, because the deity behind him exclaimed rather exuberantly.

"Renji," the Tennō exhaled sharply as the redhead walked their way, a rather put out Byakuya following quite far behind him.

He admitted to feeling worried that neither of the pair would come out unscathed. Though he secretly hoped that the two would come out hand in hand and smiling at each other, definitely not... ten feet apart and sour.

"Ren," Ichigo smiled in relief as the former lieutenant approached them, "you're okay."

Renji beamed. "Ichigo," he grinned a little too widely for Ichigo's taste.

A little too forced. A little too—_fake_.

"I take it you two have made up?" the Tennō directly prompted as Byakuya approached the group at last. His hands were still clenched and he gritted his teeth at the insensitive remark, especially in front of someone he still deemed as an 'outsider'.

Seeing that, and Renji's frown, the large deity inclined his head. "I... see," he reproached solemnly, running a massive hand on Renji's tense shoulder in silent comfort.

He hoped that they would at least come to a mutual understanding. But it seemed that they decided to put off the matter entirely, with no resolution in sight. He feared that it would come back and bite them in the future.

Ichigo was entirely out of his depth with the internal communication and silent gestures the three exchanged, and he felt as if he didn't belong in the middle of such beings—even if one was... questionable.

But instead of walking away, he curled his arm around his best friend, at first, simply wanting to exchange a friendly gesture—but then surprised himself with how thin the redhead had gotten.

"You got skinny," he mumbled worriedly, only then observing the state his friend was currently in.

The white medical robe was hanging off his tall yet lanky figure, his appearance was borderline androgynous—like those male models Yuzu liked to fawn on tv. He only realized then that Renji was rather small-boned unlike what his previously muscular physique suggested. He didn't know if he liked his redhead looking like this. Especially knowing the cause of it was nothing as innocent as putting off exercise.

"Gotta work hard to earn back those muscles if you wanna beat me," he decided to pull off a joke to lighten the mood, seeing how uncomfortable the redhead looked as he made his observation.

"Stupid carrot," Renji grumbled, punching the orange-haired substitute lightly, "I can still kick your ass."

Indeed, even if his appearance was a little worse off, his _reiryoku_ level seemed to be holding steady. Ichigo was silently grateful that at least lethargy wasn't a problem for his friend, even if he looked as if he was about to pass over in the next minute.

Internally thanking Ichigo a million times over for soothing Renji's turbulent emotions—at the expense of a growling Byakuya, but he was a possessive man by nature—the Tennō deemed it was as good time as any to breach into the conversation.

"Well now," he clapped his hands, looking at Renji, "maybe there's something you would like to share with us, Renji?"

"_We got work to do."_

"Yes," Renji confirmed, straightening up. He gestured to a more private location to continue his story, seeing that the lounging area in front of the Kirinden was empty—courtesy of the Tennō. It seemed that the Royal Guards were off trying to mend Senjumaru's city.

"It's about Aizen," he started as they settled. Ichigo and Byakuya stiffened at the name.

"Something you might wanna know about our past," the redhead continued softly, brown orbs glazing over as he relived memories that seemed so long ago.

Ichigo frowned.

"'_Our'_...?"

* * *

"Aizen-sama," Tier Harribel called, poking her head through the wooden door where she could see Aizen who was sitting outside. She thought she heard him calling out a name.

It was dark, the moon was hidden by the clouds and the air was chilly. He was supposed to be inside, strategizing for whatever else to come their way. It had been 8 days since them being stranded in the woods of Kyoto—the thin _reiryoku_ in the area was slowly getting into the head of the Arrancars. They had to do something—better yet, they needed to _move_.

Yet there she found her master, lounging on the wooden walkway with his head rested upon one of the wooden beams. She never saw him looking as tranquil as he was then.

"Forgive me," Aizen turned his head a fraction to look at Tier in the eyes, his brown orbs uncharacteristically soft, his gaze far away, into a memory she couldn't have known.

He looked at the hidden moon, his voice quiet, "this is just very..."

"Nostalgic."

* * *

"_Sousuke-dono, are you listening?"_

_He opened his eyes, not realizing that he closed them in the first place. He looked around the room, the elders were looking at him in strained nerves and concern. At least he knew which were the fake ones—the fat noble to his right who seemed overtly concerned and the simpering lot near the corner of the room—hiding their silly goatees behind their ridiculous paper fans. _

"_Yes," he said calmly, "you were telling me of the trade with the European merchants, that they are proposing a market expansion in Edo, right in the middle of such power imbalance."_

_Seeing the hesitation in the faces of the council members, he tapped his own paper fan on his thigh lightly, the sound making several old men flinched. He smiled internally—at least they still fear him. _

"_I refuse."_

"_Sousuke-dono, surely you jest," a bug faced councilman let out a short laugh. _

_He narrowed his eyes at the man, who nearly cowered in return. _

"_I will not endanger the lives of our workers to simply 'restore' the name of our clan that has been dragged to the mud when Odawara was defeated."_

"_Nobunaga-sama will be pleased if he knows that we are supporting his successor—"_

"_Why are we still discussing this?" he wondered aloud, "we agreed for the coastline, and that's what they are having. They should be thankful that they won't have to fend off bandits and trained mercenaries every few trees they stumbled upon in the woods. I will not have our family be one of the power-hungry dogs who will kiss Hideyoshi's wrinkled bottom to have a sliver of treat."_

_He stood up and glanced around the room, daring them to challenge his decision. _

"_We are done."_

_With that, he swiftly exited the stuffy room and made haste for his office, fearing what he would do if he listened any longer to their petty gossips about his 'silly' pride when they thought he wasn't around. _

"_He was the one who was so adamant about letting the Portuguese in, now he wanted them to stay put."_

"_Playing with that silly 'chess' set of his, what happened to his traditional upbringing?"_

"_Ah, our clan is doomed."_

_He gritted his teeth. Every little comment, every little jab at who he was slashed into his mind, thin pinpricks of papercuts that were more stinging than they were painful. He brushed them away, oftentimes. Acted as if he couldn't hear them. Acted as if they didn't say anything at all behind his back. One saving grace throughout this entire charade of playing 'clan' was, at the very least, they were cowardly enough to not plan a coup against him._

_Yet. _

_He dropped himself on his desk with a loud thud, rubbing his face viciously trying to stop himself from growling aloud like a beast. He was half tempted to reach the neatly placed chess pieces at the corner of his cherry wood desk, swing his hand and smash the ornate imported mahogany board to the wall. He could imagine the intricately designed pieces scattering down the floor, some would even chip around the sharp edges and corners despite immaculate care. And he would watch with part satisfaction followed with immediate, crushing regret, scrambling to put the pieces back together and desperately polishing the chipped corners of the pieces and the hairline crack on the side of the checkered board, as if they would somehow be mended if he was apologetic enough._

_So instead he opted to snap the nearby calligraphy brush in half with one bare hand, splinters be damned. _

_It wasn't that he was angry, no, he was—_

"_Sousuke," someone quipped almost cheerfully. _

_Furious. _

"_You look pissed," they said, he could almost hear them walk into the room as if they own the place, plopping down the side of his desk, where a silk cushion was placed—even though no one ever came by to sit in his office. _

_Of course, no sound was heard as they sit on the cushion, the elaborate pattern showed through their body clearly with the sunlight drenching the open area. They were not fond of closed doors. _

"_Understatement of the century," he heard himself grumble, though he wouldn't admit to ever doing so._

_He looked at the semitransparent being that entered his domain, as if it was a normal occasion for a spirit to be around him. The being that was always with him since his childhood._

"_You're a ghost," he added with a sigh, "you won't understand."_

"_Oh I do," they insisted, leaning forward with what looked like a frown. _

"_More than you can imagine," they continued, raising their brows pointedly, "I went through a war, remember?"_

_Ah, this story again. Sousuke prepared himself of hearing hours long fairytale about his ghost fighting in a thousand-year war, against an enemy so powerful that even his most fearsome general was nearly defeated. Sousuke always handled the redhead's stories with the utmost care, his curiosity was tantamount but always with a healthy amount of skepticism to certain aspects that he deemed highly improbable. Such as swords that could talk with their mind. _

"_Sure," he answered—too—quickly, a sweet smile on his face. _

_The spirit pouted as if they knew what Sousuke was thinking and graciously spared him from the torture of a spirit's history lesson, he didn't need it right now. He could hear them sigh loudly, though no air was blown. It was one thing that Sousuke still find disturbing about them, 'ghosts'—their intangibility despite their physical projections. _

"_You're a good man, Sousuke," he heard them say softly, and he could sense the mood changing. _

"_They just want you to make the right decision for your clan."_

_He bristled. "They want to get on the good graces of the man who ruined the Hojo Clan for the sake of uniting Japan," he snapped, "for his own." _

_Now Sousuke was not in the school of idealism. He understood that certain sacrifices were needed to gain something. Hideyoshi's forces may have destroyed the Hojo name for good, and his clan might not ever return to some sort of power without getting on the ruling court like what the council suggested—but he agreed with the man's ideals. Japan must come united to defend from foreigners who wanted to take over their lands. But there was one thing that he couldn't stand. _

_Toyotomi Hideyoshi was not fit to rule. _

_He was an old, hideous, disgusting scumbag who would kill the lives of innocents to gain power. He ordered the slaughter of many children in his house, his men raping the women and killing them without mercy. He witnessed firsthand as his mother was ripped from his tiny hands when he was a mere 4-year-old, screaming for the guards to bring him to safety as Hideyoshi's soldiers proceeded to lay their filthy hands on her. They only stopped their rampage when the head of the house—his father—kneeled down and beg for mercy yet letting them get away with killing his wife when they were done—just so he could be spared. _

_He saw the ugly truth in humanity._

_Hideyoshi took mercy on what was left of his family, him and a few older relatives—one assumed power of the house after his father committed seppuku from shame. Their family had to relocate to one of the smaller houses on Kyoto near some distant relatives' residence at the edge of the city, just so they could keep a low profile. He was a child, so he didn't fully understand what was going on. Didn't understand the true gravity of the situation. _

_All he knew was that his little cousins—his mother—were screaming in terror before going silent forever. _

_And he also knew—whoever those guards work for was _evil_—and he must perish. _

"_Perhaps," the ghostly figure mumbled, after a while._

What separates man from beast?

_He decided to not talk about the matter any longer. He didn't know what might come out of his mouth if they continued the turbulent conversation. He was afraid that something that wasn't him—a beast, a _monster_—might show its head instead and frightened the innocent spirit—who boasted so proudly of a war they could not possibly have gone through while retaining such naivety—with its ugly, twisted imagination and plans._

Its freedom from morality?

"_Sometimes I wonder if I'm truly crazy," Sousuke let out a small breath he had been holding in his dark musings, the strain on his furrowed brows relaxed as he observed the red wisps—as bold as blood, glimmering rubies and tender as a freshly blooming rose— swaying with the gentle wind, wishing he could touch them._

His ability to love?

"_I wish you're real," he murmured quietly, fingers ghosting over the quiet silhouette of a redhead, the slightest touch destroyed whatever illusion he conjured in his mind, turning everything murky and dark. _

"Renji."

He opened his eyes.

"Aizen-sama."

_No, it's—_

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

**Tennō Trivia #2**

He looks like Hohenheim (Ed and Al's dad from Fullmetal Alchemist) with the personality of a chippy, cool and reliable uncle (think of Uncle Oscar from Pandora Hearts).

* * *

Four weeks... new... record yay?

I don't want to bore you with my reasons... just now that I got a life that needed some fixing, and that takes a lot of time on my part to write this story :')

Anyways, Aizen's past is coming~

So I think that the last few chapters are a bit heavy on context and drama. I hope it's not too bad, unclear and erratic. Please tell me if there's anything that I can do to fix it!

Edit: I've revised the last part with Aizen's flashback/dream so it's a bit more cohesive with his actual backstory in the next chapters. The edited parts themselves aren't really important to the plot but I like to keep things cohesive because this shit is annoying asf- sorry.

**Please tell me your thoughts on this story. While I will try to continue writing it regardless, it would be nice to know if I've done things right, or if there are things that I should revise or do better in the future :)**

**Thank you for your feedback!**


	19. Chapter 19 - Nostalgia: the Champion

Chapter 19 – Nostalgia: the Champion

* * *

It was a quiet, sunny day at the small port town in Kyoto. A medium-sized European merchant ship was docked, a sign that Western influences reached even the most nondescript areas in Japan.

"Toki," a young boy called, tugging the sleeve of his retainer to stop his leisurely walk, "is that how they play shogi in the West?"

The young man frowned at the boy and looked upon the scene on which the boy gestured with his eyes. "Shogi...?"

Several meters to their left, a group of European traders was seen laughing and bending over what seemed to be a black and white checkered board, strange-looking pieces of wood rested atop, a burly blond trader moved a black piece. A young boy could be seen—a young boy?

"My lord!" the man called Toki hastily approached the group as the man with dirty blond hair noticed the young Japanese boy peering into the board with keen interest.

"_This is called _chess_, little boy,_" the man spoke in his native Portuguese, not expecting the Japanese boy to understand and to scramble away. That was what most of them do, anyway, the curious little runts.

The young boy leaned closer to the board, observing the different shapes of the pieces and their placements.

"_Is it the same as our Japanese shogi?_" he noticed several black and white pieces were scattered _outside_ of the board, on either side of the players. _Defeated pieces, perhaps? The players seem to have prepared an identical formation on the board, it is likely that each player started with all pieces positioned within the board in an identical manner, just like shogi. And—_

To say they were shocked was an understatement. It was rare to encounter a Japanese who could speak their language fluently, let alone a child. Looking closer the Portuguese traders could see the boy was of noble origin, with his fine clothing and a rapidly approaching man in a comparably modest attire—possibly his servant—calling out in worried Japanese that they didn't bother to understand.

The boy, pulling out of his focused observation, reassured the man who sounded scandalized over his choice of new company—even going as far as tugging the boy further from the traders—and turned to the awaiting Europeans once more.

"_Can you teach me?_"

...

"_You're good at this,_" one trader grumbled as he tried to move his king out of check. The boy, it seemed, was exceedingly smart. He learned the basic rules and managed to win a game only one hour in. He was sure that he didn't hold back much on the boy, either.

The boy shrugged, "_it is similar to shogi, after all."_

He found out that the European brought the game of chess to Japan before shogi was invented, summing that their version was created after the initial introduction to the Japanese culture. He couldn't help but compare the strategic battle to a real one. In shogi, captured enemies are turned into the other player's own pawns. Somehow the boy never favored that rule. It signifies how quick loyalty changes in the face of defeat. He decided he preferred the quick cut action in this 'chess' game, even if it did make the game exponentially simpler to play.

Rather than have the enemy turned to his side, he'd make them his prisoners to spare his morality from witnessing such betrayals. He couldn't imagine what it must have felt like in a real war. To have your most trusted soldiers turning against you...

"Sousuke-dono, we should really be going..." the Japanese retainer once again managed to trail off hesitantly, urging the boy to wrap up his little game. In just a short time, they managed to entrance the occupying traders in the small area and their games proceeded to include going against the young genius who managed to beat their best players.

However, looking at the sky showed that the sun was about to set. They needed to get a move on if they wanted to get back to his little lord's family house before daylight was over. Perhaps, if the men were Japanese and not some Portuguese who were in the scandal of trading Japanese as slaves to their home countries and more, the young retainer would be more at ease. As it was, the retainer once again called for his young ward, who finally acquiesce from his focus on the chessboard and looked at the pointed look his retainer gave him.

"Ah yes," Sousuke perked up in reminder. It was rare for him to be so thoroughly focused on something that he lost track of time.

He stood up from the little wooden crate he was sitting on, garnering moans of disappointment from the jolly men of the sea. He offered a bow to the traders, who were once again taken aback by the display of demure maturity of a child no more than ten.

"_I'm sorry but I must depart, misters. Thank you for teaching me how to play this game of chess._"

As they walked away from the harbor, he could sense his retainer's curiosity and turned his head up towards him.

"Do you like it?" Toki smiled at his young lord, who was clutching on the gifted chessboard the kind traders gave him. The retainer felt constricted feelings in his chest, watching his young lord trying to subdue his happiness under an eloquent mask. It was one of very few small joys he had left for his miserable childhood, and Toki couldn't help but count his blessings. The boy needed it.

Sousuke smiled, gripping a white queen piece tight in his fist.

"I do."

* * *

It just so happened that he and his relatives were staying in one of their distant relative's residence in Kyoto when it hit.

It wasn't one, big impact. It came in barrages. Tokiharu said that it was a misfire. He didn't know how he came into such a conclusion, and he didn't know _how there would be one in such an enclosed private area, there was something else behind this. _He was just glad that the main residence wasn't damaged too terribly.

The hundreds of meters of scorched land before him spoke otherwise though. And the older members of the clan... they were conversing very loudly behind closed doors.

"_Why would they do this?! I thought they have let us go free!"_

"_Sojinmaru-dono has been making radical actions that may have gotten under Nobunaga-sama's radar, it must have been a warning fire."_

"_A warning fire of such scale is a bit—" _

"_Oh, Sojinmaru-dono..."_

Sousuke was a child, but his perceptiveness was enough to tell that 'they' were of the Oda clan. They were the only ones who had made a direct assault contact to the Hojo clan before. Hideyoshi and his liege lord Nobunaga were most likely behind this. Sojinmaru was always bad at keeping his mouth shut, especially with sake around. Sousuke concluded that he would find out whatever his elder relative and clan leader had done to warrant such a response from the reigning clan.

European weaponry was one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's favorite, after all. They were fast, massive and dealt heavy damage in a single strike. Sousuke wondered if the financial costs justified the highly expensive use of those weapons and bombs. A couple of hundred meters walk would show him their base since the firing range wasn't all that long. But Tokiharu was gripping his hand tightly, a tremble in his posture as he ushered Sousuke inside. As if the wooden building could withstand direct damage from those weapons in the first place.

He decided to let it go. He would have his time.

Instead of the incident, what caught his attention the most was something else.

He found out that he could see ghosts. Spirits. The supernatural.

Any ten-year-old would have screamed and cried in fear at the sight of half-transparent, ghastly figures of the casualties of the explosion. But Sousuke wasn't any ten-year-old. And he was not stupid. He could recall that he didn't have the ability before the attack happened. Whatever happened during the explosions must have triggered his sixth sense to awaken.

And he talked to them. In secret, because he could clearly see that the adults weren't able to do what he did. They would see him for his lunacy if anything. He needed to stay inconspicuous and a charming, perfect prince to be groomed as the next clan leader.

Yet there was one spirit that stood out amongst the dull ones, like a red rose amongst thorny bushes. A drop of blood on pure white snow. Even he could see that they were different.

The red one saved him from the explosion. They said that he was different. That he could save... save what?

"You don't need to know that right now," the red one said _in a sweet, sweet siren voice, surely they were not of this world and the next—_

"Why?" he was glad that Tokiharu left to help with medical aid for the injured, leaving him in his room protected by three guards standing outside of his doors.

"It's none of your business," they said simply, their chocolate brown orbs shined brighter than the living beings of his world, "yet."

"You just made it my business when you told me that," Sousuke persisted, stomping the urge to cross his arms childishly, refusing to be held in trance over the otherworldly being before him.

"Ah, smart kids are really annoying," the red one muttered under their breath—at this point, young Sousuke was still unsure of the gender of the spirit, as if such a human notion exist in their realm.

"What—"

"Nothing," the red one cut him off rather abruptly, their tone was dismissive.

"Go play or something," they continued, waving their hand, "study." With that, the spirit floated away from his room _through_ the shoji that led to the scorched land outside. When Sousuke opened the doors, the spirit was gone.

He was silent as he watched the dead expanse of burnt soil, his eyes searching for something entirely intangible. He sighed as he closed the doors again and sit on his desk, eyeing a white queen piece of his chess set.

* * *

He didn't realize it just yet. But since their chance encounter—if it was such a thing—his life had become more and more revolved around the redhaired spirit, Renji.

The spirit finally relented and told Sousuke his name when he kept on calling the redhead ridiculous nicknames such as Akane, a decidedly _feminine_ name that Renji did not like one bit. He later found out that Renji was male, after all, confirming his belief.

Sousuke pointed out that he could simply make up any name he wanted and Sousuke wouldn't know better. He could almost see the redhead flush in anger at his remark, to which the spirit responded with "well maybe the name I gave you is made up!" petulantly.

Sousuke smiled at the decidedly adorable act of the spirit. He knew that Renji couldn't lie to save his life.

Well, his spiritual life, perhaps. If the spirit could still _die_.

Even as a teenager, he could see that the redhead was beyond exquisite to look at. Perhaps it was because he _was _a teenager, that his hormonal thoughts and cracking voice could not hide his overwhelming interest in all things beautiful. The spirit had once told him to socialize and get close to the 'cute girls' as any teenagers his age did. But Sousuke insisted that he was not any teenager, that he was a young lord and he would not be distracted with young love and shallow desires.

But still. He was a teenager, after all.

Or perhaps because it was Renji that he was constantly observing. Everything that the redhead did, everything he said that made Sousuke hanged on to every single syllable. The way that long, _long_ silky vermillion threads fluttered about, the transparence that was the nature of spirits becoming of the ethereal being. His voice was a siren call, and his body was a heavenly artifact to be worshipped.

It was beyond teenage hormones, as it turned out. Even as he grew older and ripened with life experience, he found that it was not a simple, petty desire of the untouchable.

He was not obsessed. He was...

He refused to name the feeling as 'love'. It was not an amorous feeling. He felt no desire to be reciprocated of the feeling from the redhead.

But it was more than simple companionship.

It was not because Renji became the only person close to him more than his closest relatives and his long time retainer, Tokiharu. It was not because Renji understood him more than anyone else.

It was not just because of that. It was more intrinsic, it was more...

It was preordained.

As if they were bound by the hands of fate.

Time and time again he wondered why the redhead stayed while other spirits pass along. He voiced his thoughts aloud.

"You're so persistent," Renji would say, but told him no more.

He couldn't help but think that maybe... in his deluded little mind—that he was _special_.

Why else would so many horrors—so main painful days came his way, broke through his innocent childhood and robbed his entire life from him? Why would they made him survive, albeit left his head a bit twisted and dark, and continued living his life as the next in line to lead his clan?

Why would they send him a guardian angel?

Because surely, _surely_, that was what Renji was to him. Why would he save Sousuke from the explosion in his childhood, otherwise? Why would he stay?

_Because we are bound_, he decided.

* * *

"Ah—dammit! I quit," Renji groaned, flopping onto his back rather unenthusiastically.

"Once more, Renji," Sousuke's light voice, withholding a smile, coaxed the grumbling spirit to look at the beholder.

They were playing chess in the late afternoon, one of Sousuke's favorite past time activity—if not his _most _favorite. With his position as a junior advisor on his clan, he was growing busier, and his time attending to his personal interests grew shorter by the passing as his workload grew and grew.

Sojinmaru-dono was getting reckless with his activities, and Sousuke acted as a barrier between him and the ultimate demise of their clan if he couldn't keep his illegal activities at bay. Those black market merchants who sold him illegal Western weapons held a susceptible role in Sojinmaru's plan to ultimately overthrow Hideyoshi and the Oda clan for good. They were a dark horse and a wild card at the same time. He knew when the Oda clan would be made aware of their existence and those merchants decided to switch loyalty in return for a higher margin, the Hojo clan would be doomed.

Even the little espionage and assassination plans that his elder relative had haphazardly arranged in the past would be easily detected by the current administration—it would be a waiting game until they linked those incidents to Sojinmaru. If not for Sousuke preventing those plans to be put into actions in the first place.

Sousuke supported the idea his older relative had in his mind, but his execution method was lacking intellectual elegance and was doing more harm than good to the clan.

In an unfortunate conclusion, it was one of the rare times that he got to spend with his personal little spirit, playing the game that he had been enamored with since childhood.

Renji glared indignantly, rearranging his limbs so he was resting on his side with a hand supporting his head. "You always win and I _always lose_!"

"At least let me play white this time," he suggested, eyeing the pristine and _complete_ pieces of white pawns spread across the chessboard, the black pieces neatly put to the side of the board a completely opposite situation on the spirit's side.

Sousuke grew rigid at the suggestion and silently arranged the pieces again until everything was in neat order.

"No."

Renji eyed the silent brunet, knowing he had made the young lord upset. "You and your silly 'ideals'," he huffed under his breath but drew himself to a seated position anyway.

Sousuke gripped the white piece he held in his hand tightly.

His ideals, indeed.

White always goes first. It is the rule, see. Everyone who played chess knew of it. Everyone played by the rule. There was a certain rigidness in the order of which chess was played that drew Sousuke in. The rigid definition of the differing roles, and the sharp lines that alienated black from white.

Because white is good—and black is not. He was white, he was _good_, therefore he always goes first. God favors His champion, after all. He was born with an advantage, despite the unfortunate events that occurred in his childhood. He was a born leader, he was strong, he was a genius mind amongst mediocrity of his time. In time he would conquer his evils, and create a utopia for his people. He was their savior, their white king. He would be their guardian angel, just like Renji was to him.

He stopped his train of thoughts, and the corner of his lips quirked ever so slightly, a warm puff of breath escaped his mouth, the chilly autumn weather made the smallest puff of warm air visible to the naked eyes.

It was a silly notion. He knew it was a game. It wasn't as if Renji was _bad_ for playing black when he was clearly the complete opposite of it. His guardian angel.

But it was his ideals that drove him forward.

"Your move," he said softly after moving a white pawn, waiting for the spirit to make his call. Since Renji was a spiritual being, he couldn't interact well with tangible objects, instead, he had to tell Sousuke of his move, and the brunet would move the pawn for him. To naked eyes that could see no supernatural, they would simply see Sousuke playing chess with himself, as he always did.

He found his eyes zeroing onto the black king, as they often did inexplicably.

It had become the very epitome of evil in his mind. An evil that he alone must defeat. It was his destiny. No matter what path he must take to defeat it, even at the risk of becoming the very thing he wished to destroy...

Taking one look at the glowing being before him, he knew that he would take that risk.

Him and his silly ideals.

* * *

One more step and he was closer to his goal. His entire being rippled with the power to conquer a nation, his eyes could see the glimmering future his conquest would bring.

"Congratulations, Sousuke," Renji greeted him with a warm smile as he stepped into his study.

"It's just formality," the brunet shrugged even when his eyes were radiating his pride.

"Still," Renji offered him a crooked smile, given he couldn't exactly pat the man on his back.

It was the day of his appointment as the new head of the Hojo clan. Sojinmaru met his ultimate doom when he arranged for a sudden coup without consulting Sousuke—who had been the one responsible for the actual clan decisions since his appointment as senior advisor five years ago. He suspected the clan would have fallen to its demise much earlier and Sojinmaru died an even early death without Sousuke taking charge.

The coup was planned behind his back, with Sojinmaru gathering the support of the few elders who were in conflict with Sousuke and foot soldiers to storm Momoyama castle where Toyotomi Hideyoshi resided, with Sojinmaru overconfidently leading the night operation.

They were ambushed by an infamous band of bandits not even close to the location of the castle. Some twenty soldiers made it back out of the hundred that went, Sojinmaru counted as one of the casualties—his body was burnt along with the dozens who were killed, leaving no unrecognizable trace and valuables stolen.

_It worked in our favor_, Sousuke had thought, _even if the outcome was highly unfortunate_. If Sojinmaru's troops were to reach Momoyama, Hideyoshi would most obviously realize it was the Hojo clan who arranged for the backless coup and would order to annihilate the Hojo clan once and for all. Of course, he was rather annoyed that Sojinmaru did it thoughtlessly, and the elders who supported the coup committed _seppuku_. With their careless act, the sacrificed the lives of dozens of good soldiers.

With his official appointment as the clan leader, he promised himself not to throw away the sacrifices the soldiers made and lead their clan with his cunning intellect and strategic brilliance.

And so for the years to come, he led his clan into glorious battles against backstabbing allies and little by little, conquered smaller clans into submitting to his rule. He grew his authoritative power amongst the groups and clans who were ruined by the Oda clan, earning their respect and fear not through unnecessary manslaughter, but by showing his benevolence and good leadership, offering help against attacking mercenaries and bandits, and in turn, given the utmost control over their manpower. He was patient as he was garnering allies, no matter if his clan council pushed him to act faster and grander and simply _more_. He took his time, knowing that hasty acts would lead to their downfall, as what the late Sojinmaru had fallen into.

All that was done under Hideyoshi's and Nobunaga's sniffing noses. He sworn the clans to secrecy, in turn, he offered them protection against Hideyoshi's troops were they to find out. In a short few years, he had garnered an army capable of fighting off the Azuchi-Momoyama troops combined.

And little by little, he arranged his chess pieces to their designated spot. In time, he would be ready to fight against the black enemy looming over the horizon.

They said that he wasn't human. That he was a godsend. There was no way a simple man could be so powerful, could be so brilliant and all-encompassing _perfect_. The reverence he received from his supporters was borderline religious, as they treated his words like gospel and his actions as an act sanctioned by God as if he was the Emperor himself.

Perhaps any normal human being would succumb to such narcissistic values, lavish himself on the luxuries and underlings who would die for him. But Sousuke did not gather such respect if not for his utter conviction of justice and his feet set firmly on the ground.

He fought not for his own glory. He fought for the weak. He fought for the victims.

More than anything, he fought against injustice. Against the evil who crushed his family, killed his parents and violated his childhood. He fought against the evil of humanity. Because if the beautiful guardian angel standing by his side was of any proof of his strong heart, he was a man striving for the heavenly thing that is _good_.

He fought for _Renji_.

For his smile. For his joyous laughter as he returned from a fight in victory. For his pride as he watched Sousuke as if he was Renji's champion returning from a grand battle in his honor.

Perhaps he was too invested in the European tales he read as a child.

* * *

Too bad those tales never taught him of heartbreaks and betrayals.

Renji was gone five years after his appointment as the head of Hojo clan.

He left without a trace.

His room, his study... even the chess set untouched for months on ends. The silence was deafening.

At first, he thought that the spirit was simply wandering around, probably lost in the human world. For days he waited for his spirit to return without fail. But the tingle of energy, the caress as soft as the wind that trailed across his very being whenever the redheaded spirit was around, it was not there. It left him empty.

Even as he chipped off Hideyoshi's forces bit by bit, taking pawns left and right, incapacitating the enemy's knights and bishops. Even as he breached within the enemy line without qualms of who he had taken.

He was an empty king devoid of a queen even before the game had started. He was fighting with a handicap all along.

"Toki... haru," he gasped, blood dribbling down his lips in copious amount. His eyes unfocused as he searched the face of his beloved retainer. He couldn't see his face clearly, but he could feel the slick warmth of water dripping on his bloodied hand, as he scrambled to grip the knife that was struck _deep_ into his chest cavity, he knew the elder was crying.

"Forgive me, my lord." A sickening twist and crunch of bones cracking under the knife's pressure. More warm tears dripping on his own.

The traitor.

He was so...

_close. _

He could taste Hideyoshi's fear as he cowered in his heavily protected chamber. He could smell the burning flesh and woods of the once-mighty fortress castle, Momoyama, as one after the other soldiers fell under his sword and his might.

_Ah._

_I understand_.

He fell limp to the ground, taking the knife embedded to his chest with him, even as he slipped his sword into the stomach of the sobbing man above him, drawing a strangled choke. 

He had thought that he was playing a game of chess. 

Blood steadily dribbled from his mouth and the painful throbbing in his chest growing dull as he cradled Tokiharu's dead body to his own, searching for warmth that the dead could not give him. 

He had thought that he was the champion of good. 

The wooden beams atop the castle roof cracked and fell down around him, debris flying violently. But he could not feel them. His hands grew slack and his body fell limp. 

Maybe that was why his guardian angel left him. 

He couldn't feel the wet stickiness of the blood that trailed on his face and from his chest. He couldn't feel the dead weight of his former retainer that was draped across his chest, driving the knife further into his already mangled heart. 

In the end, what he searched for was not justice... 

But he could still hear the sound of shouting in the distance. His blurred vision showed him for the last time, as the cowardly lord Hideyoshi was escorted safely out of the burning castle by his guards. They never even spared him a glance, as the structure collapsed in on him and his dead retainer. 

It was petty revenge. 

A blood-stained white queen rolled out of his loosened armor. Its crown cracked. 

_Checkmate._

_._

* * *

_\- to be continued -_

* * *

So this is Sousuke's side of the past. You can see that the tone gradually became less interactive and more contemplative, less descriptive and more exploratory as the chapter progressed.

Renji was very real to human Sousuke, but his vague representation and lack of impact in this chapter showed more along the lines of Sousuke's imagination, his 'view' of what Renji was to him, rather than showing and telling the story of the character himself. It was as if Renji doesn't exist outside of his imagination.

The story itself is purposefully left to be more narrative than an actual retelling, so I was thinking maybe I can make a spin-off story about the actual story of Sousuke's and Renji's past. Not that I want to be too ambitious lol

And just a disclaimer; while I do use the elements of Japanese history of the Sengoku period here, by no means am I reenacting or reusing the actual incidents that happened. If there are any Japanese or any history enthusiasts that are reading this story, just want to make it clear.


	20. Chapter 20 - Nostalgia: Light

Chapter 20 – Nostalgia: Light

* * *

It wasn't that he was escaping.

It wasn't as if he was leaving his dearest friend to pick up the falling pieces of what they lost to escape the aftermath of a war that preceded future wars he knew would come.

He simply didn't realize his predicament until after the deed was done. He honest to god didn't have much of a choice.

It was a dull morning after the lasts of the post-war conflicts were managed, the few terrorist groups that held radical ideals following the enemy's propaganda were shortly disbanded and their leaders publicly executed. The medical installations in the hastily assembled military force of Gotei 13 were packed full of wounded soldiers and bodies of war veterans on the brink of death.

He had woken up feeling somewhat disjointed, but shook himself out of the sleepiness and went out of his house. It was quiet, and the people seemed to be still in cloudy sleepiness to notice him walking down the path to the medical installation where Unohana Retsu was mostly likely working herself to exhaustion.

It was the sight of Yamamoto Genryuusai, a prominent figure and a war hero being cluttered with shinigami and important officials of the nobilities within the Seireitei, begging him to take the newly instated title as the head of Soul Society's military force, that greeted one particular redhead.

"As I said before, I couldn't possibly take up the title..." Yamamoto trailed off with a heavy sigh, trying his best to get rid of the pesky politicians as he made his way to visit his wounded disciples. He could already see Unohana Retsu's figure running back and forth between patients despite being handicapped with her broken arm, barely holding together with the tight wounding of bandages as she tried to heal the permanently disfigured shinigami in front of her. He wondered where Ukitake and Kyoraku were situated. Last he heard was that they were put in private wards.

Renji smirked at the obviously concerned look on his friend's expression and waved his way to him. "Morning, Ryu—"

He blinked. "Ryuu-san?" he watched as the group of men still walking, unperturbed, in the opposite direction. He frowned.

_Did they just... walk past me?_

He could hear the protests being spouted by the people surrounding his weary friend, one shinigami exclaimed, "but Genryuusai-dono, you are a war hero, you deserve to be the Captain-Commander, sir!"

"I don't think..." Yamamoto proceeded to appeal to the people of his reasonings, and their voices grew softer the more they walked further away from him.

Not to be discouraged by his new finding, Renji ran and shouted. "Ryuu-san!" he tried to grab his friend's shoulder, only to meet empty air.

His hand flew through the man.

And they couldn't see nor hear him. It was clear enough by the way he was shouting and embarrassing himself with his over the top gestures to try to get anyone's attention, and to fail. The panic grew in him the more time passed.

It wasn't long after that Yamamoto Genryuusai found out about his friend's disappearance. In fact, that day after he visited his wounded yet fortunately alive disciples, he went and visited the redhead's lodgings, to find no one was home. He had been utter worried when he found his friend unconscious some time after the battle. Retsu had deemed him unharmed, but he simply wouldn't wake, even weeks later. When he visited to find the redhead gone from his bed, he had hoped that he had awaken and simply gone out. but it was the same throughout the day, and the week went by without sight from the redhead.

In his panic, he searched high and low, his _reiatsu_ touching every single living being he could reach, and yet no signal of Renji. He couldn't even feel the warmth generated by the _Seika_'s blessing. In fact, the more he mulled over his thoughts, he realized that the warmth was already gone since the day at the now renamed Fourth Division medical ward.

It took him months to give up his search. Relenting that perhaps, given the _Seika_'s nature, the deity would be roaming the land, the different dimensions and realms to find his future champion. Because he knew more than anyone else of his failure in defeating the enemy for good.

In what years it took for Kyoraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jushiro and Unohana Retsu to pull their mentor out of his depression since the certain disappearance of his once best friend and blessed angel, on the account of his self-admitted failure to fulfill his duty despite their protests, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni was but a ghost of himself.

It took a while for Renji to adjust to his new form. His feelings longed and suffered to return to his comrades. But for a brief moment of his life, he felt freedom. Not the freedom he always thought. He wasn't free to go where he wanted and be who he wanted. He wasn't free to say whatever crap passed his head and do whatever his heart wished. It wasn't freedom of what any living being could imagine. It wasn't the conventional freedom anyone strived for, in any case, to be free of rules that govern and boundaries that restrict.

It was simply as if his container has been opened, and he was one with everything. It was like he didn't exist as _anything_ at all.

It was a peculiar feeling, to be nothing and everything, to feel each drop of rain, each gust of wind and each grain of sand, and at the same time unaffected completely. He could dive into the seas and never had to hold his breath as he watched the majestic creatures of the deep, he could bathe in an active volcano and awed at the vibrant colors of the lava and not feel the extreme temperature. He was one with nature, and at the same time, a formless observer. He would marvel at the way _reiryoku_ flowed in extreme clarity on all living beings, their life forces a vast network of connection and ultimately intertwining with him and took him on an abstract dance of energy.

He could feel, he could think and he could _be_ as a living being did, yet at the same time, he was _not_. He was beyond form and physicality. He was everywhere and nowhere. He could be bound to the earth and fly across the sky. He could seek deep underground solace and soar free to the starry night. He could sway amongst the graceful clouds and feel their airy dance as they marched across the horizon. He could stare and stare and _stare_ into the blazing sun and awed at the majestic colors of the sky as it bled red and orange and yellow. He could reach the ethereal moon and feel the gravitational force that pulls it to dance around the Earth in a space waltz. He could spend days and months in silence, not a single thought in his formless mind as the concept of time became meaningless.

Until everything became meaningless.

* * *

And he opened his eyes.

It was the force of a thousand tons of bricks that dawned upon his intangible body.

The state of disrepair. The forlorn agony that the people suffered in the aftermath of a relentless war that took _and took and took—_even after months of trying to get back on their feet.

He realized that his superficial freedom was not permanent. That everything he saw, everything he felt to be mother nature was a sugarcoat on what horrors life has in store. He saw, no, he was blinded by the majesty, the greatness of the forces of nature, that he forgot of all sufferings that the living endured.

He agonized over the fact that he couldn't be what he was before, a physical being that could at the very least _help _in the restoration of the villages torn down by the wars, help his dear friend Yamamoto in his rule as the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, help the souls rebuild their homes.

In the year that he became a boundless being, he never really experimented with what benefits came along with it. It was a rueful realization that despite the immense freedom and the feeling of nature that coursed throughout his entire being—he couldn't do anything. All the energy, the forces of natural _reiryoku_ flew around and past him, they were not his to contain. He was incapable of energy creation, as he was incapable of anything but observe and feel the humane agony of the people as their life energy flow past him.

He Called for his Father to guide him, to help him find the way to become what he was before. He thought that, perhaps, a being as divine as the Tennō would be able to restore him, to return him to his life that he unintentionally left behind. He didn't expect the crushing answer that he got.

That it was his nature to abandon his physical form in search for the next champion to defeat 'Evil' once and for all, given the failure that Yamamoto brought before. He flinched at the coarseness of the fact, unable to bring himself to admit that his dear friend failed, thinking that sealing it away was already good enough, that Yamamoto had sacrificed enough—

"There is no way around it, my son. You will be in this boundless form until you regain enough natural _reiryoku_ in your core of Light. Right now it is scattered across nature, but the more _reiryoku _you collected, the stronger the scattered core will be and in time, you will regain your ability to form."

_In the meantime, it was best for you to search the next potential champion for the long ahead battle. _

He couldn't stop himself from getting lost in rage, commanding nature as the wind got stronger and the ocean waves grew larger as they crashed on hanging cliffs, rivers run in a tumultuous race and the earth reverberates in place of his anger and helpless frustration.

He rued for the uncertainty of his return, if he ever would.

The Tennō had a saddened look in his eyes, akin to regret, as he observed into the open world, the rage and sorrow of the Light he felt rather than saw, the evidence laid catastrophe on uninhabited lands. Even in his fury, his sound and just Light was ever merciful of the sentients.

The Tennō knew that Renji would abide.

* * *

And he did.

He dived across all the living beings in all the realms, searching for a soul untainted as they went under extreme adversity.

It was a quiet night with no stars visible across the dark, foggy sky that was pierced by a sharp whistle of a war horn. Flaming arrows rained down the black canvas of the night towards a beautifully grand and unsuspecting Japanese mansion, painting the scenery a mystical red and orange glow as the flame spread on wooden boards and surrounding trees, several arrows uselessly landed on a large koi pond, hissing petulantly as they died a quiet death.

Heavy trampling of armored feet was heard next, along with the screams of terrors of women and children from within the once peaceful residence. Darkened samurais marched through amidst the chaos, deadly katanas gleaming dangerously under the orange glow of the flames that licked about in gleeful destruction. Harmful hands slicing across the air with deadly precision as they counted their death toll as they went deeper into the house, snatching women and children along the way to be passed to the next samurai, as the men of the house were slaughtered upon immediate contact.

And amongst the horror of the once innocent night, amongst the nightmare that would continue to plague his memories for as long as he remembered it, he found him. A boy, no more than five years of age, hidden within a secret door with the large hand of his guard clamped shut across his nose and mouth, preventing him from making a single sound as he struggled to reach his mother from beyond the small enclosure, violated right before his very eyes.

He waited. He watched the boy, unable to close his eyes even as the torturous night proceeded to rob the young child of everything he had, and snatched from himself his once beautiful outlook on humanity.

_If this is the world I am allowed to live in, I am in hell. _

He was there as the boy came to a realization that not all humanity was good. He was there as the boy clenched his fists tight in his hands, his teeth biting into his lower lip until they bleed and he watched stinging teardrop after teardrop fell on his stained cheeks as he was led to safety while the rest of his unfortunate family left for dead.

He was there as the boy's eyes glimmered in fury and retribution. As the boy declared to himself that he would destroy all that was evil, if so evil caused his suffering. So that no one else suffered his fate, or worse.

He watched the boy throughout the years, living his life in self-isolation and stubborn perseverance, countless hours spent on his studies and refining his childish mind, strengthening his physique in rigorous training unsuited for such a small body, sharpening his intellect even as he denied himself the passionate joy of childhood and the warmth of his own family that was taken from him long before he could reciprocate their love. And he watched, in silent gratification, as the boy found himself something to occupy his mind and his time besides his monotonous studies and training, in the form of an innocent board game.

"Do you like it?" he heard the retainer asked his young lord. He could see the same relief he felt at the look of utter happiness in the boy's face as he clung to the gifted board in his arms as if his life depended on it.

"I do."

* * *

For that moment in his lifetime, Renji could see nothing but the brilliance of Sousuke's life.

To be honest with himself, he didn't fully understand how it happened.

Just as the bombardment in an unsuspecting house that the young boy was currently residing—again, helplessly watching the burning embers and the dead soil—his entire being screamed at him to protect the boy. The boy who foolishly went out of his room to look at what was happening, to see what was the bright yellow flash was all about, what the people were screaming for.

It was only then miraculous that the boy—_Sousuke, _he minded—was left entirely unscathed sans his ever so slightly burnt garment and singed hair, his body covered in dirt and ashes, smudging his fair complexion. He belatedly sensed within Sousuke a naturally large amount of _reiryoku_ reserves, enough to make Sousuke's defenses entirely self-dependent, his physique enhanced and his durability was that of several times stronger than any normal human. Even in an area entirely lacking natural _reiryoku_, he was the sole human capable of channeling that energy subconsciously to protect himself from most of the damages impacted by the bombs.

_In his reminiscing, Renji couldn't help but thought that Sousuke was already ever so blessed, even as a human. _

It was at the same time that he could feel his cells reformed and his scattered _reiryoku_ gathered into his core until he could feel—actually _feel_—the stinging burn of gun powder and smoke.

It wasn't his plan that the boy's _reiryoku_ was exceedingly vast, that Renji's core couldn't help but absorb some of that potent energy and reemerged pieced back together by the natural _reiryoku_ harnessed within him, Sousuke's own pushing the process faster. That Sousuke saw him immediately afterward, as he was crouching in front of the young brunet entirely caught off-guard by the fact.

"Did you save me?" was the first thing that the adolescent blurted in his awe.

Renji was silent. It was mostly due to shock, because he realized the boy was talking to him and he could _see _Renji, as Renji could see all the panicked spirits of the recently dead people, unattended due to the scarce shinigami in the immediate vicinity—they would be spirited off in a matter of weeks at most.

"You are... quite unique, aren't you?" Renji couldn't help but say. It was both out of surprise and lack of words he could say to describe his scrambling thoughts. It was not often that he encountered humans who could see spirits—much less in a place like Kyoto, where the _reiryoku_ density was abysmal at best. Again, Sousuke was a deviation of that fact.

The boy kept pestering him—albeit in a decidedly reserved manner—about who and what he was, and why he did what he did. Why he saved Sousuke and what he meant by saying that the boy was unique.

"Because I think you can save—" he caught himself before going further. He wanted to tell the young lord that he could save the world from _Evil_, that he wasn't saved by Renji, that he was naturally gifted. But seeing and knowing the boy's past, and his entire life from then on, he felt that it would be a cruel punishment to tell him of what Renji—of what the _world_ demanded of him.

"Save...?"

"You don't need to know that right now."

* * *

"Tell me your name," the young lord demanded rather petulantly in one afternoon, days after the incident, the opposite of his usually reserved disposition.

After the bombing, Renji disappeared to explore the city in his newly reassembled form, missing the feeling of actually able to discern touch and smell, though he belatedly noticed that given his circumstances shrouded in secrecy, he was unable to look for spiritual pathways back to Soul Society and finally have a _taste _for real food. He couldn't even procure a simple _gigai _so he could blend in with the humans.

After having his curiosity sated, he felt for Sousuke's _reiatsu_ and followed the string back to find that the boy along with his older brother, who was the clan head at that moment, and his distant relatives comprising of twice removed uncles, aunts and cousins were already escorted to the safety of the main house due to the state of disrepair of the one near the edge of the city, lost amongst the trees. It was fair to say that Sousuke was shocked to see the redheaded spirit back with him, saying that he would 'stick around' without providing any proper explanation. Not even for his own name.

"No," Renji rejected brusquely, laughing internally at the boy who could barely contain his annoyance at the rejection. Of course, Renji was simply fooling around, the ever so strict boy his only form of entertainment, since he was the only one he could interact with other than the occasional gloomy spirits who made him depressed more than amused.

"You know my name," Sousuke pressed, and added victoriously, with his head tilted upwards and being all smug as if he won a competition, "it is only proper to let me know yours."

Renji smirked but once again, denied Sousuke of his name. At some point, he was sure that the overtly critical boy was thinking if perhaps it was forbidden in the first place for him to disclose his name. But seeing the annoying look in Renji's face, the clever lad, Sousuke was sure that the redheaded spirit was playing with him.

"Then I will name you whatever suits my mind," he decided, thinking that he would get the spirit caught in his own game, eventually.

And so their days past by together. Sousuke calling the redhead several different made-up names a day, spouting out whatever ridiculous nicknames that suited his mood.

"Why don't you go like the others, _Akahou_?" one time the brunet asked Renji as he was watching some guards patrol the perimeter, on high alert after the recent attack.

"What did you just call me?"

Sousuke smirked.

The next day he turned his head to the lounging spirit and said, "Akami, play chess with me."

Renji felt his eyebrow tick.

The day after that found Sousuke massaging his temples in frustration. "That is not how it works, _Sarusuke_!" he groaned for the third time as he taught the spirit of the board game he came to love.

The next day, "_Akane_—"

"That's it!" the redhead roared, slamming his hands on the innocent tatami, thankfully his spiritual figure could not harm material objects without adequate _reiatsu_.

"Call me _Renji_, you understand me?" he grounded out, snarling at the surprised boy.

"I understand," Sousuke could feel his own lips crept slowly into a smile, "_Renji_."

"I wouldn't know your name regardless if you tell me a fake one, Renji," he quipped after a while.

Renji swore that he would strangle the smartass if he could.

* * *

He could feel the teenager's intense stare boring into him At first, he simply shrugged it off, thinking that the brunet was simply an excitable child, after all, he would be curious of a spirit that decided to wander down and live with him. Even though he had been there for quite some years, and the brunet was more than used to being with the spirit, if that was not what he would be doing aside from his studies and training.

But the longer the teen stared at him, as if he was some sort of a rare specimen of butterflies, he grew more and more irritated.

"What is it?" he snapped at some point, glaring at the young man who drew back, caught red-handed and turned his head. He didn't look at all sorry, nor was he ashamed of his action. it was as if the young lord was confused with himself, with the way he frowned; as if he himself just realized what he had done.

"No, it's..." Sousuke trailed off, his voice on the brink of puberty, unsure whether to disclose his thoughts to the redhead, especially when it concerned him in a... not particularly innocent manner.

"It's nothing."

And that was that. Or so Renji thought.

He whistled as he walked through the corridors of the Japanese mansion, only just got back from taking a breather on his own and watching the hustle-bustle of the strange yet familiar city of Kyoto. It was nice to not be noticed as he wandered through the busy center, only occasionally having to be discreet when a shinigami got too close, thankful that their numbers were small in a low _reiryoku _city like this one.

"Renji," he heard a low grunt of his name being called from the brunet's room. Concerned if the young lord was hurt, he quickened his pace.

He burst into the young lord room, flowing through the _shoji _ like he usually did, "Sousu—!"

"Renji!"

He blinked.

The second he noticed the disheveled summer yukata and the flushed, sweaty skin of the _teenager, _he felt himself grew cold in horror.

"I'm going to wait outside."

And disappeared as fast as he came.

Later that evening, after Sousuke collected himself and cleaned his domain as best as he could, airing the room with the open window, he reluctantly invited Renji back into the room. The spirit, sheepish as he was, immediately went into a frenzy of apologies.

"I'm sorry," he blurted, putting his face in his hands in embarrassment. "Gosh, I'm sorry," the redhead groaned, his act awkwardly hyperbolic to try to reduce the tension in the room.

Sousuke was, surprisingly—or perhaps it was his disposition—calm and mature on addressing the... delicate mishap.

"No, it's fine," he started with a slightly croaked voice, choosing his words carefully as to not offend the spirit, "but from now on, please refrain from coming in unannounced."

"Yeah," Renji immediately agreed, simply glad that the matter was off his hand.

He couldn't care less that the young brunet was calling out his name even before he burst into the room just as he was... entertaining himself.

Perhaps, it was not that he didn't care, it was that he wanted to forget of such occurrence. Sousuke was a teenage boy, above all. They are hormonal as they come and would rut against whatever imagination their wild minds would allow. He simply tried to understand that fact, to justify the act and what came out of it, and he tried to carry on as usual. It left a bad taste that he himself was projected as one of those... relieve materials, but he was only eager to dismiss it as simple hormonal fluctuation that would pass in due time—maybe added with some zits on that infuriatingly smooth skin—and his image replaced by others, perhaps the sweet servant girls that usually loiter around and girlishly flirting with the attractive lad, the stunning _geishas _they often stumble upon down the bustling night in Kyoto, or even Sojinmaru's concubines who often spoiled Sousuke rotten.

He set in his mind that it was not something to dwell upon further. That it was not going to crept and grew into an infatuation deeply rooted into the dark soils of Sousuke's mind.

* * *

"You're getting so busy lately," Renji mumbled under his breath, less than entertained with looking at the miserable state of his pawns as Sousuke took more and more of his chess piece.

Pausing his contemplation, the now young adult Sousuke turned his head to the spirit who was laying on his side, his elbow supporting his upper body on the soft tatami.

"It is my duty," the brunet said after some moment of silence.

"Yeah, but don't overwork yourself," Renji sighed, frowning at the realization that it would not be possible for Sousuke to not overwork himself. His time spent on saving his brother's backside was getting longer and longer, not to mention that he would occasionally need to unwind with some high-class geishas, and Renji would be left to wander alone.

"It's complicated," the young lord confirmed his musing, "Sojinmaru-dono is getting more and more reckless with his decisions. It was not a week ago that he assembled an ill-prepared group of soldiers to raid one of Hideyoshi's stronghold," he minded aloud, a dull headache forming even at the slight recollection of the mess.

Renji raised his brow, "uh-huh, the big one in Nagoya, right?"

"Yes," Sousuke nodded belatedly, moving his pawn, "and if not for the actions of several elders who I managed to persuade and stop him, who knew what would happen to our clan... I may have shared his blood and ideals, but I am forever grateful that I don't share his intellect," he paused as if contemplating whether to say the next few words in respect for the elder, "or lack thereof, for that matter."

"Yeah, thank the gods that you're smart as hell," Renji snorted at that, for a moment distracted from his losing game. He inwardly thought that Sousuke's genius doesn't belie the fact that his sense of justice, his vehemence to stop bad things that happened unfairly in his knowledge to those around him, was what separated him from his older relative as if Heaven and Earth. He recollected the memory of Sousuke getting so angry at Sojinmaru for needlessly trying to sacrifice their soldiers' lives as if they worth as much as dirt, for sealing deals with European merchants and hired soldiers for weapons and manpower when they were obviously trying to rip him off. What shined the most in his memory was, peculiarly, the time some decade ago, when Sousuke was only twelve, when he took a beating from Sojinmaru in place of a wayward homeless brat who stole food scraps for his sickly mother. A thief who had no choice of his life because of what the samurais had done to his village.

"_I stole the food from the kitchens! I was the one who gave him that!" he would scream, shielding the crying boy from Sojinmaru's reach. _

"_Don't lie to me!" Sojinmaru swung the _bokuto_ in his hand and struck Sousuke on his shoulder hard, his bones screamed in protest at the impact. _

"_Go run you idiot!" Sousuke yelled at the sniveling boy, who turned on his tail and ran with a package of foodstuff and medicine clutched in his arms._

_Sojinmari was furious with the thief who escaped, his stressed-out mind needed an outlet from his piling duties as a clan head, and Sousuke was there to take the brunt of the damage. Needless to say, he got out of it with a broken nose and fractures along his left arm, humongous bruises littered his skin for weeks. Renji would worry, but seeing the self-satisfied look at the young lord's eyes, and the smile even amidst his pain as the servants nursed him; he knew that, perhaps, Sousuke was simply paying back for what sufferings the nobilities like himself had done to the innocent citizens, no matter how small. _

Sousuke smiled. "Your way of speaking is always so peculiar, even after all this time," he said, snapping Renji out of his musings, and inquired next, "perhaps it is how the people speak in your realm?"

Renji had taken to explain vague details about the life in Soul Society, taking careful measures to not reveal too much to a living being, even if the brunet was unique in himself. He told him that where he came from was a place beyond the technological advances in the Material World, combining sophisticated machines with spiritual energy to enhance the standard of living of those chosen to stay in an enclosed society (Seireitei). He wasn't prideful of the fact that the Rukongai was still in need of better management, so he left the poorer aspects to Sousuke's imagination.

Sousuke was curious by nature, he would inquire the oddest things that he could think of, such as if they eat sustenance, what people do to have fun, were there dragons and all sort of mythical creatures he always read in his western books and the old scrolls of Japanese mythos. But other times he would ask the most surprisingly rational questions, such as the conduct of governance, the leader of the society, and whether the people living in prosperity. He would account for the fact that he wanted to have a proper example for his future leadership.

Renji would vaguely allude the gruesome war, that they were recovering from its aftermath, to Sousuke's utter explosion of curious inquiries of what happened, who he enemy was, and how were they defeated. It reminded Renji of what happened, to him and his friends, his dear Genryuusai and...

"It's a long story," Renji would say tiredly, as If he had run a thousand miles marathon in a minute, "let's talk about something else."

And Sousuke... He was a clever lad, wasn't he? He knew of the sorrow in Renji's drooping eyes, the fuse in his rage blown up by the fact that something must have happened to _hurt_ his precious spirit. And Renji, unknowing of his influence on the enamored young lord, sparked the fire of vengeance back into Sousuke's soul. Made him remember his goal to eradicate the reign of hypocrisy and totalitarian government of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Made him want to eliminate whatever objects in his path that brought sorrow for Renji. Somehow, in his twisted sense of thoughts, the two black and white worldview fused into one grueling vision.

* * *

It went downhill from that moment on. After Sojinmaru's death due to his own foolishness, Sousuke was immediately appointed as the next clan head, seeing that Sojimaru's offspring consisted of two adolescent girls before his ultimate demise. At first, Renji could tell that Sousuke was trying his best for the clan. At first, he was doing good for his clan, and the blood in his hands was the blood of ruthless enemies and bandits that tried to hurt their family.

But Sousuke grew distant, even as he held Renji before his eyes time and time again, worshipping him in the way he could, wishing out loud that he could touch the spirit, who he deemed his guardian angel—proclaiming that whatever he did was not just for the clan, but in the name of Renji and the justice he upheld. It was not the Sousuke he knew before. It was not the Sousuke he came to adore.

And up came the storm, as Sousuke confided in him, as he confided many times before, that he would lead a troop to charge a small clan that was loyal to the Oda clan. It would be the first step to his ultimate goal of dethroning Hideyoshi from his pedestal, and made him pay for his deeds against the poor and the weak, against the innocents. Or so he convinced himself.

"Are you sure about this, Sousuke?" Renji asked, a frown on his mouth. He would think that it was an act of vengeance rather than justice, as Sousuke would proclaim.

"Yes," Sousuke then answered in utter conviction, his sharp eyes would soften as they met Renji, "it has always been my goal."

And Renji would clench his hands. He wanted to shake his head, to tell him that he was wrong. That what he was doing was the same as what Hideyoshi did to him many years ago. Yet Renji was helpless to stop him. When he looked at the burning embers in Sousuke's eyes, the flame of strong will blazing behind lively orbs, he couldn't say it. He couldn't deny the man of what he had lost to be to where he was now. He couldn't reason in his head that it was _evil _no matter which way he looked at it.

"You understand, don't you, Renji?"

_I'm starting not to._

* * *

It dawned on him like a snail dragging on the sandy shores of a long, long coastline. Like droplets and droplets of rainwater falling on the cold hard rocky grounds over the course of a million years to create a vast canyon. He didn't notice it until he looked back.

That Sousuke was on a hell path to destruction.

He tried to voice his thoughts, but always fall short to Sousuke's sweet and wistful words, his goals and his vision of what the world could be under his benevolence rendered Renji speechless and hating himself.

And he didn't try enough. Perhaps he could shake the brunet from his clouded judgment if only he pushed a bit harder, if only he held his ground longer. Until the time came when he couldn't deny it anymore yet it was too _late _when he finally said it—

"_Sousuke, vengeance clouds your mind!" _

"_Renji, my sweet," Sousuke, a fine gentleman belying the fierce warrior spirit, smiled in a way that lit his lovely face, his voice honeyed and cajoling Renji to a hypnotic trance. He was calm even amidst Renji's storm. He alone could subdue even the most headstrong of men into submission, Renji was a malleable clay under his hands in comparison. _

"_My little songbird," the deep chocolate voice lulled, cloaking dark hollows, "I seek only justice."_

—and Sousuke was lost in his own mind, as he dragged those around him along.

Just as the sunset faded into darkness, Sousuke—his Sousuke, once a sweet and just child—rode into the dark on his blackened steed, hundreds of trampling hooves echoed and gleaming torches dimmed until the night cloaked the bad dream that he planned to unleash on some poor, unsuspecting clans.

"Father," he gritted his teeth, shame tainted his usually jovial face as painful ejaculation of tears ripped out of his eyes and torturously dragged down his face in a slow tumble that disgusted him to his core.

"He is not the one," he finally let out, the words slipped past his lips just as his breath was taken from him, a blinding light surrounded his entire being and then he was gone.

* * *

"Renji," the Tennō whispered, taking the shivering mass into his arms.

"He is—" Renji sighed, "he was _good_..." tears drenched his face and he never bothered to stop them. The Tennō lifted his face and gently wiped his tears for him with a pristine white sleeve of his heavenly garb.

"Time decides whether one is good," the Tennō murmured into his son's hair, his eyes dimmed. The weakened shoulders shook both in sadness and frustration, if the tight fist clenched to the brink of bleeding was of any indication.

"Then what's the _point_?" Renji snapped scathingly in his state of rage. His fists were trembling and as moments past in silence, he crumpled down and hide his face in his arms.

"I don't want him lost," he mumbled from within the enclosure of his elbows, "he will think I abandon him."

The Tennō looked at Renji in pity. His Light was doomed for the emotional suffering of losing those around him it seemed, even the ones to come. It was wrong of him to think that he didn't need a guardian to be by the Light's side, to be his unyielding pillar of support and the shield that protected him from even the subtlest of heartbreaks.

_**It was best that he didn't remember.**_

* * *

It was the sweltering heat and the rough ground scraping against delicate skin that greeted him. He opened his eyes to see the blazing sun blinding his vision. He wailed and wailed, unable to contain himself from his misery and hurt. Fat teardrops dripping down his small cheeks, and his lips stretched taut in an open scream.

"Why, it's a baby!" a woman's voice could be heard. She was traveling with her husband and only child, the rags on their body signifying their poor birth, or perhaps, the event of destruction that forced them to be.

"Shit, some numbskulls must've forgotten to take their kid when they're busy running from this hell hole," the man groaned, watching as his stubborn wife kneeled to observe the state of the abandoned babe. Their only child peering at the small human being in awe, obviously unaware of the sufferings that his family was going through with his underdeveloped mind.

"What's one more mouth to feed?" the weary wife cooed as she picked his scarcely clothed form and shielded him from the harsh elements with the rags she had on her body, covering him in dirty layers of worn cloth.

The wife picked him up and stood, following after her grumbling husband and taking the dirty hand of their only child with her. Urging the curious boy to walk away from the cliff edge, where remnants of houses could be seen in scraps, the rest of the village far below the cliff that rose overnight, tearing the earth and destroying the natural habitat surrounding it. The shinigami living in the safety of Seireitei were already surrounding the area, investigating the nightmare-ish event that happened.

As she picked up her pace to follow the man already several feet away, she said, "perhaps he would bring us some peace and love," to the husband's increased grumbling 'wish for food and shelter, idiot', and ignoring his words she added, "I will name him Renji."

What a horrible joke.

* * *

_\- to be continued -_

* * *

Additional Notes:

\- _gigai _: an artificial/faux body that shinigami used to interact and blend in with humans.

\- Bokuto : Japanese wooden sword made for training, usually in the shape of a katana.

* * *

**Tennō Trivia #3 **

**His wisdom may be as deep as the ocean, but he's an awful role model. **

* * *

Another month-long update... heh. I was so entranced with re-binging FMA Brotherhood, not to mention getting on track with reading my long-overdue books, that-yeah yeah excuses excuses.

Anyways, this chapter is extra long because of all the backgrounds that I tried to cram in here, so... enjoy? BTW, definitely A+ parenting from the Tennō gonna be continued along in the next chapter! (I think..)

Oh! I also wanted to note that the 'flashback' scene in chapter 18 with Sousuke was an illusion or, well, imaginary dream he concocted in his head, if the subtext was too subtle. Just in case, because I made that before going in the details of his actual past, so things like 'he can see ghost since birth' isn't actually canon (in the sense of the story). He could see ghost after the bombing incident. Yeah.

Edit: I added some small detail about Renji being unconscious after the battle as per narrated in a previous chapter 7 before deemed 'missing' by Yamamoto.


	21. Chapter 21 - The Truth

Chapter 21—The Truth

* * *

The next day found Kurosaki Ichigo wandering listlessly around the empty hall of the Soul King's Palace. He caught himself staring at the enormous glass tube filled with clear liquid, and what seemed like a man with short black hair without his limbs floating within.

The event that occurred just the day before still latching on his mind, him finding that he couldn't shake the thoughts out of his head even if he wanted to. He saw from the corner of his eyes the shadows of Kirinji Tenjiro and Hikifune Kirio, now back to her plump state, lingering by the entrance of the endless hall, knowing that they were watching his every movement, fearing that he would do anything to jeopardize their _Soul King_. He couldn't bring himself to care.

After what Renji presented to them of his past, his involvement with Aizen—no, _Sousuke_ to him—it seemed as if the redhead's energy was zapped from him. He sighed and tried to appear unaffected by his own recollection, but Ichigo could see the mental fatigue creeping in. Byakuya was swifter, though, as he carefully inched closer to Renji and offered his shoulder for the redhead to lean on, which Renji took rather absently as if forgetting his earlier animosity with the raven.

Trying to appear unperturbed by the display, Ichigo turned his thoughts to the more pressing discovery.

"So Aizen was more involved in this whole... _Seika _thing than we initially assumed," he mulled aloud, and asked no one in particular, "was he aware of his former potential as a 'Champion'?"

"Not to my knowledge, I never gave him too many details of why I was there," Renji answered immediately.

"What about after he became a shinigami?"

"Perhaps the Hōgyoku showed him something," Byakuya gave his two cents, careful as to not move too much as to disturb Renji's rest, "as whatever he did with Renji's mind before, that unlocked his memories," he stifled a grimace, as if remembering something he wished to forget entirely.

Renji perked, remembering something, and chipped in, "he did ask me to give him the _Tenfuku_," threatened, more like, "he must've known what entails the _Seika_'s powers before then. But he never... he never really _showed_ that he knew of the past."

The man did show him the side of himself that Renji terribly missed from his human self, before he ultimately became crazy and fused with the Hōgyoku. After his capture, Renji's memories were flooding in bit by bit, and it was increasingly difficult for him to hide his recollection from Sousuke, lest the brunet got suspicious of his knowledge. He didn't know how the other would react then, didn't know what he remembered of his human past. He could see now the parallel of his thoughts as a human and what he was now. Trying to overthrow a seemingly bad ruler, doing whatever it takes to do so, and losing himself in his madness in the process.

"Tenfuku?" Ichigo questioned.

"Ah, it's the name of my power of blessing the Champion," Renji noted sheepishly, "bit silly to name it in my opinion, so we usually just call it 'the blessing'," to which Ichigo hummed in understanding. Because it wasn't the kind of power that the user needed to call its name in order to draw its power. It was simply the intrinsic attribute of Renji as the _Seika_, the Light himself.

Getting back on topic though, Ichigo pondered, "If he _is_ aware of his past, and topping it off with the Hōgyoku giving him whatever information he got about the _Seika_ and also his direct involvement with it in his human past... there's no guarantee that he won't coerce Renji into giving him what he wants."

"I told him before that to gain my blessing, he had to 'earn' it, basically. He might not know that it meant for him to become a Champion of Light," Renji frowned. Perhaps if Sousuke knew what it entailed to gain the blessing, he would back down? But what he was after wasn't power, after all, it was to gain access to the Soul King. He somehow knew that gaining Renji's blessing would allow him some sort of admission to the Soul King's Palace. He voiced his thoughts aloud.

"That's plausible," Ichigo hummed. Then again, he himself was there. If it was so impossible to get access to this place, then Ichigo wouldn't be standing where he was. Then again, the Royal Guards were the ones granting him entry. So there were at least two ways to get in this realm that he knew of—Renji or the Royal Guards. Aizen might be unaware of the Royal Guards, which was why he only had Renji to get him what he wanted. But he should've had access to Soul Society's secrets by now, which was strange that he didn't know about them. Maybe it wasn't all about gaining access, after all...

As if reading his thoughts, Byakuya said, "if his goal was to simply gain access, he would make use of the Royal Guards."

"But he couldn't because they never left this place," Renji countered.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be planning for this exact situation to occur to get them," Ichigo scoffed.

Byakuya shook his head, "If he did, he wouldn't have got away with his followers before the Royal Guards came to take us here."

Indeed, Ichigo thought of the same thing. Knowing Aizen, he would've waited for their reaction after they found Renji, and take measured steps to achieve what he wanted. If he already knew of the Royal Guards, he would've prepared ways to gain access to their ability to enter this realm. But he didn't. And he left Renji where he was as if disposing of him because he was unable to grant Aizen what he wanted.

There might have been something else at play here. But they simply didn't know what of yet. it was pointless to discuss it further because they knew they didn't have all the information at hand. They needed to regroup with the rest of the Gotei 13, perhaps the old Commander knew something they didn't. Or even Urahara Kisuke, the other person who was deeply invested in the Hōgyoku. The Soul King's Palace is the safest place to be as of yet, it would be easier if they could get the captains and other key people to the realm instead of them going back down there. Then again, Aizen might have anticipated it and such a large amount of people carried to this realm would make the entrance vulnerable to his breach. Maybe there was a way to establish communication with the rest without jeopardizing the security of the Soul King's Palace.

Then once again Ichigo broke the silence with a question that Renji had dreaded, "I'm actually curious about this, if Aizen was such a ruthless man when he was a human before, why wasn't he brought to Hell?" he aimed the question to the Tennō, who had been simply listening to their discussion without putting in his thoughts.

Ichigo remembered of Shrieker, the first Hollow he encountered that was brought to the Gates of Hell before his very eyes. he remembered what he was taught by the shinigami, that the prisoners of Hell could never escape from its bounds for eternity. Was Aizen redeemed by some sort of good deeds before his death as a human?

"He did," the Tennō answered before Ichigo could follow that train of thoughts, finally breaching his own silence.

What?

"He escaped," and the three shinigami snapped their heads in wonder at what the Tennō just said. Both Renji and Ichigo wished they had misheard, but then the Tennō further continued his tale.

"He was truly... a unique soul, if anything. His genius and cunning never failed him as he served his time, biding for the moment to escape his prison. Even as he was wrought with sufferings unimaginable, as other souls were tortured and grew weaker, he somehow grew stronger. He defeated the guardians of Hell and escaped in a way that no being could ever dream to replicate. Somehow he... quite literally so, _broke_ the chains that bound him to Hell. He snuck into Soul Society with a shinigami's zanpakuto that he stole over their dead body, and _forced_ the soul within the sword to open for him the _dangai_. As I don't have control over the realms anymore, I was helpless to watch him bide his time and infiltrate the very core of Soul Society only to betray his allegiance."

"Shit," Ichigo breathed. Aizen was far stronger than they had first imagined. Ichigo thought that with the help of Yamamoto, Renji, and Byakuya, they would stand a chance. But the man's feats had been ridiculous and he cursed the day when he would find out more of what the devil could do now with his Hōgyoku.

_Shit is right_, the redhead thought grimly. It seemed that the more he discovered about the sides of Sousuke he never saw, the more he grew to fear the man. He had thought that he had seen some parts of the real him in his time with the brunet at Hueco Mundo. But he couldn't be so sure, anymore. He had entertained the notion that perhaps he could sway his judgments when the time comes, but to have a will so strong that it raised him from the darkness of Hell and broke the unbreakable chains by his very own strength... Renji feared that nothing could affect the man.

Byakuya was quiet for the longest time, his eyes blank as he was lost in his thoughts. What had been revealed by the Tennō didn't surprise him as much as it should. He couldn't care less of what their enemy was capable of, more than the fact that he needed to be stronger to protect Renji. Seeing the redhead distraught had him angered, and if not for the burden of his Light in his arms, he was sure he would explode as he did many times before, injuring more than just the substitute shinigami this time.

The Tennō chuckled, the tone was hollow instead of what the act might suggest.

"It seems my selfishness reached far," he murmured somberly.

Seeing the confused looks by both his Light and the substitute shinigami, he began a story he had wished he would never share. He conjured a seat to rest his weary body and slumped down, he knew it would be a long story. But it was better that they knew.

* * *

"I am as old as the Earth. I roam the planet for billions of years in solitary. It was a lonely existence. Even as the planet grew with life, the soul, and then the first human grew into large societies, I was alone. None can see me even as they worship my doings as an act of God, Nature was under my command as I brought about bountiful seasons and thrust upon them lush and fertile lands for them to reside and procreate. I thought I would be content, knowing that I have provided for the humans and the souls what they needed to survive, and watch them grew larger and larger, and their wrongdoings mounting on top of one another, and watched as Hell was finally being used for its purpose, to condemn sinners. It is a place beyond my control, as all the souls that are brought into its clutch.

"I was..." he trailed off, his eyes shining a nostalgic light as he fondly recalled a memory, "it was no more than a lingering look at a simple human family. A man and his wife in their meager house, and their spirited children as they ran on the land that I created millions of years ago. And I turned and saw the souls who laughed and talked to each other in a friendly manner. Camaraderie. I realized that it was what I lacked to fill the void in my own soul.

"So I begged to Fate to let me have what they have. A companion. But it was for a price, something that I blindly paid. My control over the flow of souls was taken from me, in place for the Soul King," the Tennō motioned his eyes as vivid imagery floated before them of the limbless man trapped in a large tube, "it is... less than ideal for a companion, you see. It has no soul aside from the fact that it could control the flow of them, it couldn't do anything aside from its function—a mere puppet. I could understand why Aizen Sousuke would be repulsed by it."

Though Renji and Byakuya were surprised, they didn't show it. They knew that their Father was a being that held many secrets, the revelation of the Soul King's history was jarring, but they were more than prepared to brace such knowledge. Ichigo, however...

Ichigo was reeling. There was no information being held between him and the Gotei 13 about Aizen Sousuke. He was made aware of his objectives a long time ago, that he wished to overthrow the Soul King, which to Ichigo's initial suspicion after he got here, was the Tennō himself. It was true, to some extent, but the existence of the... 'puppet', was unexpected. Ichigo had faith that in the worst-case scenario, with Aizen being able to reach their location, the Tennō would be more than enough to handle him. But knowing that the sole purpose that Soul Society was protecting the Soul King for its importance in the governance of souls, and knowing that it was a mere inanimate being separate from the once all-powerful Tennō...

He wondered in the Captain-Commander knew of this. It could change the battle with Aizen in his favor. If the Tennō could be made defenseless as he was right now—even if it was due to his own action—the chance that the Soul King to be destroyed was back from improbable to highly possible. Aizen and his Hōgyoku alone were a force to be reckoned with, especially if he managed to gain entry to this realm. And he wished he didn't hear about what followed after.

"I couldn't be sated with what was given to me, so I selfishly asked Fate for a true companion. It was belatedly that I realized that, perhaps, I was being too selfish. I couldn't stand with what I had, and I wanted more than my life could give me in my wretched existence. Fate..." he chuckled harshly, looking at the pair still sitting on the ground, "Fate punished me, and saddled me with the Chaos of Hell, as my power of Light was taken away.

"But it gave me you, Renji," he whispered reverently, and grew somber and wrinkled his lips in self-disgust as he watched Byakuya's widened eyes, knowing that the raven realized what he was saying.

That he was of Hell.

"I had to... I had to keep you away. You were of an incomplete soul, mindless, and destructive. I couldn't bear to know what Renji would've become in the face of an uncontrollable Chaos. I couldn't let go what I had, and I kept you away for millennia," the Tennō sighed, "and of course, Evil emerged as you may have known by now, and Renji had to be taken from me to find the Champion of Light that could defeat It because I gave that power away. They failed, the first time around," to which Renji frowned at the recollection, unable to let go that Yamamoto suffered enough of that nightmare, "and the second one failed _him _and left him hurt, and I couldn't—I _couldn't _let it slide anymore, Renji, you are _precious _to me. I took you back and selfishly erased your memories from the pain.

I wished for Evil to be gone. I begged Fate, and the world, to eliminate it for me, so I could have you with me forever because even if they take all my powers as my payment, I would be happy with you being by my side, my son. But once again, I was wrong. I was blinded by the fear of going back to my lonesome life. And I was punished, once more. They warned me that Evil would awaken from Its seal to destroy the realms. I was helpless as Renji was decreed to go back into the realms of the souls, to once again search for a Champion, for the power of Light manifested to eliminate Evil was not his own to utilize. He would never be able to return, not without finding the Champion first. It was only in my control to stall for Time, and I had no choice but to awaken Chaos and imbue it with your Light, Renji, to protect you if ever you are in need.

But even then, you are always ever so suffering. I longed to have you back by my side and heal your wounded soul, but I was unable to do anything as I watched you forgotten of your life as the _Seika_, becoming a mere soul and fighting against the sinners for your survival, defeated and humiliated, over and over again." he ground his teeth, his fists clenching, and he knew that Byakuya would feel the same, even more so than him. He couldn't dare to look at Renji, he couldn't dare to see the face that remembered the horrors of his life in Rukongai.

"Your birth, your awakening, and everything that you thought happened because of your fault," he inhaled, unable to continue.

"It was to punish you," Renji finished for him, "through me."

The Tennō stood, shaking his head in a frenzy, "and I couldn't let you know that. I couldn't let you live through those horrors. Even in my limited state, I sent for my image to you, and once again I—"

"—you erased my memories of my own awakening," Renji cut him off, and he couldn't help but smile at the irony, "but then Aizen came and did whatever stupid thing he did and it all came back to me." He almost scoffed at the flinch that both the Tennō and Byakuya procured, both for varying reasons.

After what Renji had narrated before, what he revealed, oftentimes finding it difficult to find the right words or to convey his story without having to stifle his tears, his breathing coming out haphazardly and _wet_, Ichigo was more than ready to raise hell over the ones responsible. But to hear it from the Tennō himself...

If not for the fact that the being had tremendous guilt displayed for all to see, that one couldn't help but pity, couldn't help but _try to understand_, because he surely wasn't a monster as his story dictated, not with that guilt that burdened his being like a thousand planets.

Byakuya wasn't even as moderately restrained as he was at the time, unfortunately, his recent dispute with _his _redhead still nigh his conflicted mind and the retelling of the _Seika_'s unknown past with Aizen pushed his Chaos to the edge and the next thing he knew, he was strangling the then human-sized deity, uncaring of the consequences. Since the other reason for Renji's pain wasn't there, escaping to somewhere obscured like the coward he was, Byakuya latched on to the next best thing.

"What rights..." he growled, the claws on his bulging hand flexing around the wide neck of the being who he called 'Father', red mottled his skin and it was as if he _grew larger,_ his mien savage and fangs protruding as droplets of blood dribbled out of the punctures on the Tennō's neck, "what rights do you have to meddle with his memory?"

"None," the Tennō wheezed out, the choke cutting the flow of blood and oxygen as he grappled the raven's arm, his eyes watching the flickering emotions behind the _black_ eyes of his Chaos, understanding of his outburst.

Renji was silent. He had confronted his Father himself about it, after all, right before Byakuya busted open the large doors of the throne room. He absentmindedly thought that perhaps he should stop Byakuya from harming the Tennō further. But in the deep recess of his mind, he couldn't help but the satisfaction as the Tennō answered to even a sliver of what he had done to Renji. It made his expression sour, at what horrible misfortune he wished upon others for the sake of his. Maybe he wasn't all Light, after all.

"I was... simply being... selfish," the Tennō gasped out, "as I am now." And then his grip at Byakuya's arm got tighter, his lips curled in a snarl and the next moment, Byakuya was growling in pain, letting go of the Tennō.

"Byakuya!" Ichigo shouted as he watched the raven fell, curled around himself as the man whimpered not unlike a wounded animal. Blackened threads of energy flew right from the raven's chest and swirling around the Tennō's outstretched arm. Renji was horrified at the display, that his Father was absorbing Byakuya's own life energy, and moved to stop the Tennō in any way he could, briefly wishing that Zabimaru was with him if it turned out to be a fight that he wished it wouldn't.

But the moment didn't last. In a split second, the energy swirling around the Tennō's hand exploded, rendering the being helpless as he fell back gracelessly on the ground with a groan, his mangled arm bearing the brunt of the blasted Chaos energy, as they rushed back into Byakuya's core.

"Fate is a merciless lady," the fallen Tennō sighed, a pained grunt escaped his lips as he brushed off his robes and stood, facing the still recovering raven. Renji was, by then, kneeling by Byakuya's side, helping him on his feet. He was puzzled as he looked at the woeful being cradled in his arms, and turned his attention to the Tennō limping slowly within range, subconsciously trying to obscure Byakuya from the being with his own body, letting out a warning snarl, "stay there."

"What did you do?" Ichigo inquired wearily, fingers twitching around the hilt of Zangetsu on his back, not knowing whether to approach the pair several feet away or defend them from the being now unknown whether he was a friend or foe.

"I tried to take his soul into mine."

_But he couldn't because it didn't belong to him in the first place._

If anything else, at least it worked to subdue the beast. It wasn't time to be fighting against each other, even if the Tennō himself was partly the cause of the problem. It wasn't as if he took pleasure in the misery, but whatever he did, it couldn't be undone and they had to face up to the consequences.

The four of them grew silent after that. The Tennō having confessed of his guilt, of his selfish wishes, and his crimes, revealing truths that no one had ever heard before, that he would so willingly depart from parts of his soul, his power, so they may have a soul of their own—even for his selfish wish of companionship.

In a way, Renji was grateful, he mused as he wiped away the strands of black threads that fell on Byakuya's closed eyes. It brought him more pains than it should've, if only his memories weren't repressed, enabling himself to come to terms with everything and finding strength in himself to move on. But it brought him to this moment in his life, where his Father was opening himself to them, even to Ichigo whom he didn't know before—even as he knew _of _the lad—and simply becoming vulnerable.

It wasn't enough to warrant his forgiveness for his Father. The deity kept his own life from himself because he didn't want Renji to suffer—because he didn't want to suffer from having a miserable company, he felt as more appropriate. The Tennō was hellbent on keeping Renji by his side, his fear of being left alone paramount. He wondered if the Tennō still felt the same way, now that he had the Royal Guards and the other healers and servile attendants with him. He wondered what part of the being was being sacrificed to enable those souls to be with him in his realm, as he never witnessed the occurrence to ever happen. The Tennō held many secrets, that Renji was sure would leave him reeling. But he could see that he wasn't ready to give it all away just yet.

* * *

The Tennō's story and the subsequent incident suffused the tension, even if it brought them more pain than not.

"Renji was sent to Soul Society... with Byakuya, isn't that right? Then how come is Byakuya older than him?" Ichigo asked after a while, once the tension subsided and they had gathered their thoughts. Byakuya was subdued, cradled in Renji's lap but occasionally would growl if the Tennō so much as looked his way. Renji's light slap to his head would do the trick to stop the sound.

The Tennō inclined his head, "When they were both sent to Soul Society, I had no control over their Fate and their Time of birth. Byakuya was born almost a century earlier than Renji, even as I watched them both transported away from my realm. As I have mentioned before, I could stall for Time, as I can control it within certain limitations in my own realm."

Renji couldn't help but think back to his time in the Hogyoku's dimension. It was more of an illusion of time rather than Time itself, but he felt that it was a scarily similar experience. He feared for the capabilities of the Hōgyoku, and how it would increase Sousuke's strength and abilities beyond what he had witnessed so far.

After a moment of their silence, knowing that the moment was over, the Tennō rose from his seat, that vanished into thin air the moment he stood, and bid the three to rest as he walked to the halls that would lead him back into his realm. He welcomed them to visit him if ever they needed anything of him, that Ichibe would foresee of their save Ascension, "it's the least that I can do," he said with a demure smile unbefitting of his stature and left.

Ichigo was quiet, replaying Renji's and the Tennō stories over and over again in his mind. He felt as if something was missing in the picture. Not just Aizen's objectives, but there was also something else that bugged him. But he didn't know what it was.

He instead watched as Renji helped Byakuya to his feet, the raven having fully recovered from whatever stunt the Tennō pulled before. Byakuya was looking at Renji with a gaze that Ichigo knew well, the tenderness excruciating to watch. But he couldn't keep his eyes away. The sight of the pair was almost too beautiful, like an artist's painting. Even as his heartbeat painfully against his chest, the sinking feeling drowning him in familiar suffocation, he smiled at them when the redhead looked his way.

For the moment, Renji's tense relation with Byakuya was set aside, as he let the raven ran his fingers through his long strands. He could see the meaning in Ichigo's expression, the dimness in his eyes, and he looked away.

There were too many things on their plate, adding a love triangle to the mix was to court catastrophe.

* * *

But he simply couldn't let it out of his head.

"I never realized that Ichigo is..." he trailed off, watching the noble's back tense before him. So he knew of it too.

"He tried to lay a claim on you," the raven growled, facing the redhead with his blackened sclerae.

"I'm hardly a toy to be 'claimed', Kuchiki-san," he snorted, hiding his surprise by making light of the situation. He needed to think of these lighter things to get his head away from the depressing thoughts he had been in earlier on. He deemed that conversation as over and done with, and he hoped that the raven would be considerate enough not to let him dwell on the matter.

"It's Byakuya," the raven corrected, standing closer and taking a loose strand of vermillion red on his fingers, perhaps understanding the redhead's need of a distraction.

"You should call me by the name you gave me," he whispered, taking hold of Renji's hand and squeezing it. He had grown bolder since his memories resurfaced, knowing that his relationship with the redhead was far closer than it was before when they were only captain and lieutenant of the Gotei.

"Ku-Byakuya...-san," Renji breathed, heat rising to his face at the proximity of the noble, his hand warm in the raven's and he hoped that Byakuya didn't notice his fluster.

The noble inclined his head with a discreet upturn of his lips and let go of the other's hand. Renji wouldn't admit the disappointment, but he remembered the state of their relationship as of current, and it would be embarrassing for him to demand the raven's attention after what they had said to each other before—what _he_ had said to Byakuya. The conflict was still too fresh in his mind to feel comfortable having the noble so close to him.

Ichigo had left them on their own, saying that he wanted to 'sleep on these' and went to Hikifune's city. Renji briefly frowned at the thought that the carrot took residence with the beautiful shinigami, wondering exactly _where_ he would 'sleep', but he decided that he was overthinking and it wasn't his business in the first place. That left him with his captain, if he still could call him that. His thoughts wandered to the 'what if's, what would become of their professional status after all that had happened to them, whether they would return to Soul Society soon, and the more he thought the more it led him straight back to the main problem and he tried so hard to not think about it at that moment—and Byakuya was awfully silent.

The noble was falling several steps behind him, not noticing that he had walked ahead of the other in his train of thoughts, seemingly unmoving and staring at his hands.

Byakuya didn't know what came over him, perhaps he was as staggered at the Tennō's story as the rest of them, but he couldn't help but latch on the one thing that had bothered him in the deity's story.

"_Fate punished me, and saddled me with the Chaos of Hell..."_

...the Chaos of Hell.

So he was... of Hell. It made perfect sense to him. His power and sometimes uncontrollable rage surprised even himself. Hell was a realm without order, the only form of governance was the gatekeepers and the guards, and the rest sinners atoning for their sins. His power wasn't drawn from the Tennō like Renji's was, but from the very essence of Hell, the smoldering inferno fueled his life energy and strength.

"Are you thinking about what Father said?" Renji asked him suddenly, peering into his dark eyes that wouldn't seem to turn back into their usual _red_.

Knowing that he hit the jackpot, Renji exhaled loudly, clapping his hand on the other's slightly slouched shoulder. Very unusual for a noble-by-birth and long-time captain.

"You can be a creature from Hell, from under the Earth, an _alien_, you can be a Hollow for all I care, it doesn't define _who_ you are, as corny as it sounds, your action is. I know it's me being a hypocrite, those words from me, who tried to erase my soul and escape, a coward like me, what a _joke_, right?"

"Renji!" Byakuya snapped his gaze to look at Renji in shock and indignation for the redhead.

But Renji simply waved his hand half-heartedly, "it's okay, I'm over it," and he crossed his hands as he continued, "and that's what we _do_. We get over it. We get over whatever brought us down, and we grow stronger from it. I kicked your ass before, didn't I? Wait don't answer that, I know you technically _won_ but I changed your _mind_ and that's something."

Byakuya could feel his lips quirk at the redhead's ramble before he could stop himself. Leave it to the gutsy lieutenant to distract someone from their brooding.

"Please forgive me for what I am about to do, Renji," Byakuya interrupted the redhead's rambling and pulled him to his arms, something he wanted to do for quite a while now. He leaned close, his breath tickling Renji's nose as the redhead braced himself from what he knew was coming.

Only it wasn't.

Renji sensed the uncertainty in the raven's movement, as he stilted and his face hovered only inches apart from Renji's own, his eyes unblinking and red and simply frozen. He frowned and grabbed the raven's head and unceremoniously smashed their lips together firmly. A million thoughts ran in his head at that moment, like how still Byakuya was, wondering if he was still staring at Renji like a statue, how his back ached because the raven was gripping him too tightly, and noticing that the other's lips felt chapped against his, _that bad habit of his biting his lips until they bleed, I have to give him some ointment for that—_

But it still more than what he imagined it to be. Yes, he imagined lip-locking with his captain before. He knew that most shinigami would, the noble was a handsome and highly eligible bachelor. Or widower, if we are being technical. But then this thought turned his mood sour, and the raven was _still_ frozen and he kept thinking about _Hisa-_

And then Byakuya moved his lips against him and something broke in Renji. He melted into the raven's embrace, all thoughts forgotten, his own arms scrambling to wrap around the other's neck and flushed their bodies even closer, feeling Byakuya's other arm snaked around his waist in a tight coil, unwilling to let go. What was once a firm yet chaste touch of lips turn into gentle passion and warmth spread throughout their bodies until they had no choice but to pull away when they ran out of breath.

Renji bit his lip, then his tongue darting forward to lick at the skin where Byakuya's lips touched his, knowing that the raven was watching his every action, their bodies still entangled as they breathed the same air.

Byakuya marveled at the _Seika_ that was so very close that he could feel his thundering heartbeat resonating against his chest, echoing his own. He was reluctant to take the last step, but Renji being himself, he took it from him. And it felt as if a thousand years of burden was lifted from his shoulders, a tight cage on his heart was broken open and he was stunned by the sheer relief and the sense of _freedom. _Even as he had the redhead in his arms, he longed to be closer, to form a connection unbreakable with the very being that gave him purpose beyond what was designated to him since his birth. He hungered to claim those lips once again, wet and flushed from their earlier engagement. He brushed their lips, a gentle caress, not quite a kiss.

"Never try to leave me again," Byakuya whispered against Renji's lips, a soft and low rumble, reminisce of his nature, the brushing of their skin shuddered him to his core.

"I won't," Renji breathed before his breath was stolen as his lips were captured by hungering ones.

And that was the Truth.

* * *

It was a dark space, void of light and warmth, as the Tennō trudged forward, his figure shrouded in the darkness. He grunted as he felt his muscles grew, the soft fabric of his robes accommodating to his growing body as he reached his natural size.

"You are truly despicable," a sad voice to his left remarked. So close that it whispered to his own brain.

"This is not to be discussed further," the Tennō growled, his shoulders unnecessarily aching with the added burden.

"You were bluffing through your teeth, it was remarkable to watch," another voice to his right this time, laced with barely contained amusement.

"Of course not, it was all the truth," he sighed, cracking his neck and felt relieved when the burden dissipated.

The voices continued, deep in his mind, and he could imagine the odd wide grin and sorrowful frown on hollow faces, haunting him in a way only his own thoughts could.

_"A wolf within a sheep's clothing doesn't make it harmless."_

* * *

There was a large dent in the board where he placed his pawn.

_"You will pay."_

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

**Tenno Trivia #4**

He can grow heads that had minds on their own (*refer to Chapter 17, Byakuya's flashback scene).


	22. Chapter 22 - Two-way Communication

Chapter 22—Two-way Communication

* * *

Ukitake Jushiro turned his head to the sound of a person announcing their entry to his office, relief in his eyes when he recognized the person, "Kuchiki, would you deliver these documents for me?" he said after a quick exchange of 'good morning'.

Rukia padded to the desk of her captain and took the offered pile of paper, only finished with her daily morning report to her immediate supervisor when another shinigami told her that the captain asked for her.

"To the Sixth?" she guessed, eyes narrowing down on the mouthful title on the cover. 'Evaluation of Leave Permit Submissions Under Amendment of Divisional Office Affairs Policy by Captain Kuchiki Byakuya'. On the upper hand side was a small clipped paper with 'Sixth Division' scrawled on top and a red stamp of the Thirteenth Division's seal on the right hand lower corner. A rather thick scroll was also handed to her, "the office affairs policy" her captain had said. He must've been having a hard time referring to the guidelines in the scroll with the many leave submissions. She thought that problem was already solved and done with the last time her brother took it to the Captain Commander some months ago.

"Yes, thank you."

She frowned at her captain's sickly pallor, knowing he must've stayed the night to finish everything on top of her division's work. "Not a problem, Captain. You should rest," she added, already planning on telling their worrywart third seats, Kotetsu Kiyone and Katsubaki Sentaro, to insist on the man's rest, knowing he would be stubborn and tried to keep working if left alone.

Unaware of what was going through her mind, Ukitake called her in a reminder of something as she walked out, "ah, get them to the third seat."

She nodded and swiftly walked off with the intention of notifying Kotetsu and Katsubaki of their captain's state of being before delivering her package.

A soft rap was heard in the medium-sized office and a muffled voice sounded behind the door. "Delivery for third officer Moyama Riko-san."

"Come in. Put them by that desk—oh Kuchiki-san, good morning!"

Rukia entered the office and greeted the two officers currently seated in their desks, piles upon piles of paperwork and scrolls scattered on the desks and the floor.

"Good morning Moya-san, Rikichi."

"Already making rounds this early in the morning, aren't you?" Moyama smiled despite her pallid expression, her fatigue showing on both her face and her rather sluggish movements.

Rikichi on his side wasn't faring any better, being appointed assistant to the third seat.

"Yes, things are a bit hectic right now," Rukia said slowly, stepping over the scrolls scattered on the floor to Moyama's desk, putting the paperwork and scroll in her hands to a somewhat empty space on the cluttered desk.

"Tell me about it," the third seat groaned. Rukia cringed in sympathy.

"Captain Ukitake has finished with the leave permits, and he returned this scroll," Rukia said regarding her package.

"Sweet heaven's you're godsend, Kuchiki-san! Thank you! And tell Captain Ukitake many thanks too!" Moyama cried, relieved that she wasn't given more work on top of her ever-growing pile. She would get up and hug the raven, but the clutters around her making it somewhat difficult for her to even stand without messing her work station.

Rukia let out a small laugh, scratching her head. As she turned to leave, Rikichi followed her out of the office, thanking her for her help.

"Still no news?" he asked quietly after they closed the door.

Knowing that it was the main reason he walked out of the office room, Rukia sighed and shook her head gloomily, "no..."

The young shinigami bowed his head and let out a big exhale. "All right. Thank you, Kuchiki-san," he said with a small smile and returned back to the office. Rukia watched his hunched back disappeared into the room, ruffled her hair with a groan, and left.

It has been ten days since her brother went with Ichigo to Hueco Mundo to rescue Renji. She had been the first to be notified when the trio's safety had been confirmed, but she was still unsure whether to be glad that they were in some strange place that she couldn't find. It was almost as if they went ahead and disappear on her. While she had been consoled numerous times that they would be fine, and that they may return very well soon, but she needed to see them to make certain of that.

Ichigo's friends in the Material World had been questioning his absence during her mission there, back again in the disguise of a high school girl. While Inoue and the others had known the circumstances, they weren't told of the highly classified location Ichigo was supposedly at, despite protests. Rukia was glad that they cooperated with her and made excuses for Ichigo's lack of presence for the past couple of weeks. While Ichigo's sisters were also a concern, it was a good thing that his father, Kurosaki Isshin was a former captain and managed to console them of their missing brother after being made aware of his son's location.

And there was also the condition in her brother's division that he left without preamble. Because both the first and second in command for the Sixth Division were gone, the lower officers had been frantic in handling the flood of documents and missions that had been given since the battle with Aizen. Most of the highly-sensitive documents that needed the Captain or Lieutenant approval then thus given to Ukitake Jushiro, who volunteered out of sympathy. Given her captain's state of wellness, she, along with his two third seats Sentaro and Kiyone, had been working double-time to make sure that he had not overworked himself and tip his fragile health out of balance. And there was the ever forlorn Rikichi that she couldn't help but empathize with.

It was a miracle that he didn't try to leave on his own to find the missing lieutenant the first time. And as much as Rukia wanted to tell the young shinigami, the information that had been given to her regarding the whereabouts of the trio in question was classified in the highest order.

While things in the Gotei 13 had been more busy and hectic than usual, she was recently becoming more concerned with the state of the Kuchiki clan. She never really was a big part of the clan's meetings, the council never gave her much thought aside from that she was the Clan Head's little sister they only had to begrudgingly accept. With her brother gone, their effort to take over Byakuya's position while the man wasn't there doubled, rationalizing that someone needed to manage the clan while he was gone. Who knew when Kuchiki Byakuya was going to be back?

Rukia was concerned that the moment her brother was indeed back, all the painstaking work that he had done for the family would be ruined by idiotic clansmen. She was only thankful that her brother was always one step ahead of the rest of the clan. Kuchiki Ginrei was appointed advisor and regent if ever Byakuya was absent, such as what was happening now. The fact that most of the family businesses were managed by him and select few loyal members of the were also a calculated move on his part. At least their fortune was safe from the grubby hands of those greedy bastards. Still, they could be recklessly trying something that no one in their right mind would think of. Assassination was not new amongst competing clansmen. It was like a ticking time bomb.

"Ah, Renji, I wish you can see what they made out of your apartment complex," she sighed, overlooking the entertainment block that was being constructed by the Seireitei border walls. Most of the buildings were finished and open for business, with several areas designated for residence. Turned out that Renji's apartment complex _along_ with several others was remodeled to be an entertainment district by her brother. The man never did things half-assedly, it seemed. Too bad Renji didn't even manage to see it before he...

"You should see the lights they have on at night. It's beautiful."

"I knew I would find you here," someone said from behind her, to her surprise. She managed to compose herself before turning to face the person.

"Matsumoto-san," she greeted when she found who it was. The woman smiled and joined her in taking in the view.

"Captain Kuchiki unexpectedly has an eye for design, doesn't he? Making such an elaborate red light district. Shuuhei has visited twice already!" Matsumoto chuckled, putting a hand on her hip.

At Rukia's curled lips, she laughed aloud, leering at the raven, "oh, he was just _sightseeing_, you know," making Rukia wrinkle her nose even more. She might thought that the district was impressive, but she knew that what a 'red light district' entailed. And even if she was raised in Inuzuri, she never really had the desire to find out, especially when Renji never allowed her or any of the other Rukon children near one of those admittedly less pretty districts. Of course, she never made any comment when she stalked him going in such districts by himself late at night when the other children were asleep, and coming out many hours later very early in the morning when no one was awake with a limp in his gait and another bruise barely visible under his clothes. She didn't know what it was then, but as she grew older, she respected the redhead enough to not bring it up as long as he didn't.

"We should go there sometimes," Matsumoto suggested excitedly, already thinking of all the bars and the pretty men at the host clubs, the _casinos_. With everything that was happening recently, she felt that she deserve to unwind and perhaps even get lucky in all the meaning the words suggested.

From what Shuuhei told her, the brand new red-light district, aptly named Akegawacho, was on a much higher scale from the dingy, dirtbag districts usually found on the 'bad' corners of Rukongai. Instead of having a meagre display of prostitutes and sleazy men drawing people in for a quick release, the district was created for true pleasure and entertainment. People go there not to secretly fulfill some sort of shameful needs, but to actually have fun and let out some steam. Families with young children would even visit at night, since 'mature' dealings were done inside the building, with no distasteful display of bodies outside. Instead of run-down rows of old rickety shacks, everything was upscale. Shuuhei mentioned that the grand casinos, cabaret, and host clubs alike were some of the hotspots that drew most mature visitors.

"Ah, I'm not... good at gambling... or drinking," Rukia cringed sheepishly, guessing that was probably what the strawberry blonde was referring to given her habits.

"Silly girl! There are more than just casinos and pubs in a red light district! It's like a never-ending summer festival!" the spirited blonde admonished, even though the raven did hit the bull's eye. In her opinion, the small raven _needed_ to unwind too.

_If that's your definition of summer festival, Matsumoto-san_, Rukia thought to herself.

Letting out another long sigh, she shook her head. She hoped that her brothers and Ichigo would come back soon.

* * *

Inside the First Division main meeting room, a small group of Captains assembled around a large round table. Most of the captains were noticeably missing, those at present counting only the Captain-Commander, Soi Fon, Komamura Sajin and Kyoraku Shunsui. On one side of the table, several officers in standard covert-ops uniform stood with scrolls of reports on display.

The meeting seemed to have been gone for a while, as one of the officer closed the scroll and finished his report. "We traced him to Kyoto area, but the trails disappeared on the edge of town," the stealth officer said.

"Was there anything, in particular, that was special in that area?" Soi Fon questioned the shinigami.

"None, ma'am."

She hummed, contemplating the response. "Keep looking," she said, nodding and dismissing the team.

"Yes, Captain!" they snapped to attention, bowed, and flash-stepped away, disappearing like shadows. The few captains at present were silent, each one contemplating what had been given to them.

Aizen was a slippery snake to catch. Immediately after affirming that Kuchiki Byakuya, Abarai Renji and Kurosaki Ichigo were safe within the Soul king's Palace, the Captain-Commander tasked the Second and Twelfth Division to work together in tracking down Aizen Sousuke and his allies. Finding traces of his _reiatsu _was an easy enough job for the covert-ops of the Onmitsukidō under Soi Fon's command, as he had a very unique and quite powerful _reiatsu _signature that could be spotted even by amateur trackers. However, tracking those traces proved to be more difficult as he seemed to have the ability to completely suppress his _reiatsu_, with the traces they found only detected on the battlegrounds and Las Noches, places that he could unleash his _reiryoku_ completely.

Through the haphazard traces, the operatives had to scour entire regions and detect how old the trace was. That was where Kurotsuchi's division came in with his _reiatsu_ analyzers. From the report, it was found that the most recent trace had been left somewhere in Kyoto, which could mean that he was still there. But Soi Fon knew for a fact that the city was one of the least _reiryoku_-rich areas in the Material World.

"Do you know anything about the location, perhaps, Captain-Commander?" Soi fon finally started, turning to the old commander. Perhaps he knew something of the location that others didn't, even if the lack of recognition or reaction to the location mentioned proof enough that he might not.

Yamamoto exhaled, as much as he wanted to be someone who hold all the answers like most of the shinigami thought he did, he didn't. So he shook his head. "Unfortunately, no."

Soi Fon leaned back in her seat. It seemed that they were stuck. They couldn't find Aizen, whatever trick he used to disappear without a trace, and they couldn't reach Kuchiki Byakuya and his party.

Komamura crossed his arms and let out a rough sigh, "we need them to get back soon, there's no telling when Aizen is going to strike again." Knowing who he had meant, the other captains hummed in agreement.

"Kurotsuchi is looking for a way to establish communication with them," Soi Fon remarked. As much as she hated working with the clown, her operatives style of tracking and his devices proved to be a much efficient combination, so she had to force herself to endure his insensitive and gross remarks at times, the occasional threats to remove his face simply were not working with him.

She could only find amusement as he deride the Zero Division and the Soul King as he tried and failed numerous times to replicate the passageway to the Soul King's Palace, or even to establish a _reishi_ network strong enough that could travel to the other realm. Of course, she knew that his continued trials and errors were eating on the time they had, and she should be less amused of his frustrated screams and verbal abuse of his stoic lieutenant. She couldn't help herself.

"Then we are left vulnerable for the time being," Komamura rumbled, a hint of concern in his voice.

"I wouldn't concern about us much," Kyoraku Shunsui opinionated, "what Aizen is looking for is not here. And I'm quite certain he knew that."

"He can use us as bait," Soi Fon emphasized. He can use them for anything, for that matter. They were left at his mercy, if what he pulled previously were of any indication. They needed those three shinigami to come back. Especially Kurosaki Ichigo, their main defense line against Aizen's complete hypnosis, because he hadn't witness the release of Aizen's shikai.

"We're no better than sitting ducks..." Shunsui affirmed Komamura's previous statement in defeat, knowing that Soi Fon was right.

* * *

He was growing restless.

The Tennō was still shutting himself in his... whatever he was at the moment, despite saying that they could reach out to him whenever. Ichigo was tired of trying to leech out info from the Royal Guards if there was some way to contact the people in Soul Society that wouldn't actively notify Aizen. The gnawing feeling was still there, lurking at the back of his head as if taunting him to _know_ what he was missing in the picture.

Byakuya and Renji were off doing their thing, he wouldn't dare to intrude on their mending of their broken relationship. it was another thing that ached on his body, somewhere in his chest, but it was the kind that he chose to bear rather than confront. He knew that they didn't have time for something like unrequited love, and he wasn't petty enough to be a miser just to let them know the issue with his heart. Not now.

So now he was back at the Soul King's Palace main hall, the backdrop of the Soul King himself behind him as he caught Hyōsube Ichibe and Nimaiya Ōetsu making their rounds on securing the place. It was hardly needed, in Ichigo's opinion, since the place was practically untraceable and inaccessible for anyone. Of course with the threat of Aizen looming, they couldn't help but double security. Just in case. Which was why they needed to do something about it, as Ichigo often pressed them about.

"It's been two weeks, we need to get moving if we want to _hope_ to be one step ahead of Aizen _this time_," he stressed to Ichibe, who sighed and pinched his nose in exasperation.

"Look, kid, how many times do I have to tell you that it's not safe to try to contact them—"

Ichigo could feel his anger brewing and let it out in a snap, "then what the fuck am I supposed to do?!" silencing Ichibe in the process.

The burly shinigami pitied the young lad. He was in his shoes once, frustrated that he couldn't do anything when he knew something was wrong. That he had been made to wait in uncertainty. It was one of the worst feelings. Helplessness took away power from our hands, and for people like them, who were used to always know what to do, always _could_ do what they must do, it was as if their limbs were ripped from their body.

Ōetsu beat him to the chase and clasped Ichigo's shoulder, "I know you're frustrated and you feel like you're not helping when you can, but it's just another thing that we gotta do. We wait it out. The Tennō hasn't made any decisions yet, and you know that he's our best chance at outsmarting this Aizen guy. Instead of moping around, you're better off polishing your skills than sitting 'round doing nothing."

At the unexpected reprimand, Ichigo let out a frustrated breath and snapped his shoulder from the offending hand.

Ōetsu huffed, not seeing any other way and offered, "I will help you with your zanpakuto, it seems that there are more for you to learn before you master it."

Ichigo perked up at that.

* * *

They were at one of the large sitting rooms in the Soul King's main palace structure. Rows upon rows of shelves lined the walls filled with scrolls and leather-bound books. A solitary fireplace, made of white stones that seemed to never stain lit the walls of books a warm golden light.

Byakuya was sitting cross-legged by a low table, his hands hidden in the wide sleeves of his dark kimono His features were partially lit by the warm fire, making his unusual red eyes glowed. The eyes that were currently fixed on the redhead sitting before him.

Renji had a melancholic look in his eyes. His brown orbs soften by the warm firelight and his loose vermillion locks trailed down his like a waterfall, the tips gently touching the carpeted floor with how long he had let the grow. His hands rested atop the sturdy wood of the table, and Byakuya looked as if he was hypnotized with the slow, gentle caress as those fingers danced across the smooth surface of a chess piece. A white king.

Since mending their strained relations, the both of them were found rediscovering their bond with each other, reminiscing over memories of their first meeting and the events subsequently. They talked about Byakuya's birth as a Kuchiki, and Renji's past in Inuzuri. Consequently, it took several times of calming down the raven as he listened to the childhood of his Light, what he endured and continued to endure to ensure the survival of his little group without their knowledge. He recalled hearing Rukia mentioning something of Renji's past before, the first time he made the redhead live with him.

"_...Our lives in Rukongai, It's not exactly where we get the luxury of a choice. We were constantly forced to do things due to the unforgiving circumstances, Renji, most of all. He was always so... accommodating to us."_

It was then that Byakuya realized, Renji never mentioned any of what he did, what he had 'accommodated' to Rukia, or any of his late Inuzuri friends. His sister knew of what he had done and chose to not mention it out of respect for her oldest friend. And he also realized that there was much that he didn't know of Renji's life in Soul Society, his nobility persona, and the way he was raised preventing him from caring for others' stories no matter how much he knew they meant to him. And he planned to mend that.

After their conversation, the atmosphere turned into a more companionable silence. Renji, having found a rather oddly placed chess set in one of the corners of the bookshelves, took it out and asked for a game. Fortunately for Byakuya, he had learned of the human game before, with his many missions in the Material World before making the title Captain of the Sixth Division. They played leisurely, commenting on a good move and laughing at a stupid one, which was mostly Renji's job as he gleefully take another piece of Byakuya's piece, and they kept playing until they didn't know which turn it was, and who was playing which color, and decided to simply lounge in silence, contemplating the pieces on the black and whiteboard.

"We need to return," Renji voiced, at last, pausing his ministration and putting down the piece on its respective place on the board.

Byakuya was pulled from his hypnotized stare of those fingers and looked at the redhead with a frown, narrowing down on the red mark by Renji's neck on impulse.

"We should focus on your recovery."

"I _am _recovered," he countered, "it's not just about fighting Sou-_Aizen, _but I'm also worried about the division. Things must've gotten so crazy back there..."

Byakuya observed the turbulent look in his lieutenant's face. Trust him to worry about the Sixth Division's welfare after what he had personally gone through. Ever the fine lieutenant.

After a moment of silence, Byakuya seemed to make up his mind and got up from his seat, and reached for a long box hidden by stacks of books near the fire.

"It seems that you have grown upset," he remarked rather obviously, noting Renji's curious look at the box as he opened it, "perhaps I can help alleviate that."

"Zabimaru!" Renji exclaimed, quickly snatching the zanpakuto from Byakuya's offering hand to the raven's amusement. "What—_how_?" As he remembered, it was left in Mugen back when he was taken by Aizen. That was around a month ago.

"I found it at your," he hesitated at the word 'cell' on the tip of his tongue, "I found it in Mugen after we returned from the battle. I brought it back to the Sixth but didn't manage to bring it with me when I went to Hueco Mundo. Someone from the Gotei 13 seemed to give it to Hikifune as she returned here."

Only half-listening to Byakuya at that point, Renji crooned at the sword, fondling its hilt and swinging it this way and that, the light catching on the reflective blade.

"This is great, at least I can practice now. _Man_, it's been too long, I miss my guns," he morosely pinched his arms. They weren't even toned anymore, soft and almost—dare he said unwillingly—_flabby_. Like a sack of fat. He needed to get back on track if he wanted to look the part of a badass lieutenant once again.

"Then allow me to help you practice," Byakuya offered, gesturing to Senbonzakura that was finally back on his person. After the event at the healer's chamber, it took Byakuya some time to forgive himself and reconnect with the zanpakuto. Senbonzakura's spirit was only relieved that his master was back to his right mind and accepted the silent apology readily.

Grinning, Renji stood with the help of Byakuya's offered hand.

"They will do just fine without us," the raven said softly as he pulled Renji to his feet.

Having nothing to say, the redhead nodded and released his hand from Byakuya's. He guessed he should trust their officers.

They got out of the room and Renji led the way to one of the deserted training grounds. On the walk to the designated location, they saw both Ichigo and Nimaiya Ōetsu walking the opposite direction out of the Palace, but they were too far to hear Renji's calls.

* * *

After arriving, Renji shed his white outer robe and tied his hair in a high ponytail as Byakuya tightened the _obi_ to his kimono. Without preamble, Renji began with a sudden attack that he hoped would catch the raven off-guard. Sly move, but he learned that there was no such thing as 'unfair' when fighting with his captain. The man was too strong to not pull a trick or two on him.

But no such luck. Kuchiki Byakuya, with all his keen senses, knew the attack was coming from miles away and one-handedly blocked it with his zanpakuto. Renji felt his eyes widen, and if the raven noted the shock, he didn't mention it.

Then he began to push back.

"_Damn _how did you get this _freaking_ strong," Renji grunted, bearing the weight of Senbonzakura as his captain rather easily overwhelmed his initial attack. He knew that the raven was stronger now that his Chaos was awakened, but he never knew _how _strong. He suspected that the man didn't even need the Chaos to overwhelm him. He knew how much his captain held back in his fights.

"Stay alert, lieutenant," the raven-haired noble remarked coolly, as if he didn't put much effort into the swords contact. He swung the sword as hard and as he safely could, breaking the contact with a loud screech of magically reinforced metal and allowed Renji to step back to avoid Senbonzakura's sharp edge.

"Back to titles, huh," the redhead jumped back several feet and grinned, wielding Zabimaru on both hands in front of him, his legs shoulder-width apart, finally taking on the first kata.

Byakuya was suddenly next to him, using his infamously quick flash-steps, "you're wide open."

_Damn it!_ the redhead thought as he haphazardly tried to block off the zanpakuto very nearly scraping his cheek, swinging Zabimaru in front of him and activating his _shikai_ at the same time. The zanpakuto whirled and extended into a long, deathly bladed whip.

Byakuya evaded the blades, seamlessly activating his shikai and with refined control that he never demonstrated before, used the tiny petals of blades to take over the movements of Zabimaru and wrenched it out of Renji's shocked hands. The petals reformed on the hilt of his sword as he charged forward and knocked the lieutenant off his feed, the blunt edge of Senbonzakura against the permanent red mark of Renji's neck.

"You are out of practice," the raven remarked with his red eyes blazing, straddling Renji's thighs and leaned close to his face, "_lieutenant_," he whispered the last part right into Renji's ear, the hot breath tickled his ear, making him involuntarily shiver.

"Yeah yeah, enough with the hot guy act, I know what you want," combating the need to freak out, Renji rolled his eyes, tugging at the strands of Byakuya's hair by the back of his head and connected their lips in one long, sweaty kiss.

Byakuya couldn't stop the sigh at the lip lock, moving his lips lazily and tasting the other in such an intimate way, delighting in the reciprocation as Renji lightly bit on his lower lip. One moment he was lost in the sensation of Renji's lips against his, the next he was flipped on his back, thumping rather loudly against the hard ground. His eyes were wide as he looked above at the gleeful Light, long crimson locks falling over his head and around his face like a halo and for a second he thought he was looking at an angel. A rather mischievous angel with flushed red cheeks, it seemed.

Renji snickered at the dumbfounded expression on the raven's face. "You're so easy to read now, captain," he teased. It was a pretty cliché move, but hey, it worked. Perhaps those romcoms Ichigo's sisters watch had a point other than being cheesy.

The man in question narrowed his eyes at the redhead's mock. He pushed Renji off him none too gently, the redhead nimble on his feet as he flipped in the air and taking Zabimaru with him, the noble brandishing Senbonzakura in a flawless first kata.

"One more time."

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

**Additional Notes:**

Akegawacho : the name is made up of _Ake_ (red) and _gawa_ (river), and _cho_ (abbrv. of the word _choume _to signify Japanese districts).

Onmitsukidō : special operations branch of Soul Society's military under the command of Soi Fon.

* * *

Okay, so more of a filler chapter for what's to come. This chapter is quite self-indulgent, so I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do, because the next chapter is gonna be even more indulgent. For me. Ehe. Not really important but I'm posting this on Ao3 too under the username Dev14. I don't upload everything, just one or two chapters per week there. I really need those feedback guys.


	23. Chapter 23 - At Last

Chapter 23 – At Last

* * *

She stepped into the large, dark room warily, the blue glow of monitors the only one keeping the room lit. Standing right in the middle for the room was an amusing sight of Kurotsuchi Mayuri complaining to himself and insulting every single person he knew with every insult at his disposal.

"Any progress?" she decided to test the clown, expecting a reaction that would surely amuse her for the day.

"Don't you start, little _girl_," Kurotsuchi snarled without looking at Soi Fon, his eyes glued to the monitors before him as his fingers danced across the control board furiously, grumbling to himself.

Soi Fon smirked. "I was asking if there was progress in your trial to establish contact with—"

The eccentric captain slammed his hands on the controls, making several red pop-ups showed on the screen with a blaring alarm of '**Incorrect command. Try again**'s and '**Alert: action will be aborted. Continue command?**'

"Would you think I have? Did you come to gloat? To amuse yourself in my _suffering_? Is that what you are trying to achieve, _dear Captain Soi fon_?" he sneered, the inflection in her name an insult, and finally turned and gave Soi Fon a feral face, his eyes wide and his golden teeth showed in a perfect symbol of insanity.

Soi Fon made an unpleasant face at the other's outburst. What a dramatic clown. She was about to retaliate when another alarm echoed in the room.

"_**Reishi**_** analysis complete. Analyzed location: Material World. Japan."**

"**Warning. Unique **_**reiatsu**_** strand detected." **

The largest screen showed a map that zoomed in to a specific location the computer had managed to scour. The two captains blinked.

"Ah."

"Ah."

Kurotsuchi turned his head to the screen once more, reading into the information given on them. "Interesting. Very interesting indeed."

"What did you do?" Soi Fon interrogated, her curiosity piqued, "is it working?" _At long last_?

"Woman, you are very _very_ distracting," the clown shushed Soi Fon, much to her irritation and tried to dismiss her, "shoo."

"What did you find?!" she pressed, walking closer and gripping the other's shoulder tight in her small yet powerful hands. Kurotsuchi was not impressed by the notion and simply shrugged her hand off him. He had fried away his pain receptors, so nothing she could do would hurt him, anyway. It would be a problem if she managed to tear his limb off, though. Perhaps he shouldn't have sent Nemu to fetch his meal.

But the woman proved to be a very persistent nuisance, and he found himself in a room full of the other captain's yapping demands.

"Instead of the Soul King's Palace, it seems my _reishi_ analyzer found something else quite... interesting." he finally relented, if the woman would leave him alone to some _peace and quiet_ by explaining to her. He gestured to the blinking yellow box on the screen.

'_**Reiastu**_** origin found. Location: Material World. Kyoto, Japan.', and right** underneath that was **'Alert: sample not found. Unable to verify identity.'**

"Aizen," Soi Fon concluded.

Slightly impressed by the other's deduction but not wanting to show it, Kurotsuchi only nodded. "Unfortunately we can do nothing about it."

That got her attention. "What do you mean? We tracked his signature, we can find him." They would need to assemble a team. Her recon team just got back, but she knew they had handled worse missions. With his location detected, they would be able to—

"You don't understand, as I suspected of an ignorant being like you," Kurotsuchi shrugged condescendingly to Soi Fon's annoyance, and continued, "he's _shrouded_."

That took her a while to digest. "You mean a barrier?" she guessed with a frown. That would be easy enough to open, they had a team of Kīdo experts at hand to breach the barrier.

"A barrier would be easy," the clown muttered.

"it's a seal," he decided to take mercy on her oblivion, "a blood seal at that. No one can pinpoint its exact location and no one can open it but the seal maker."

* * *

With nothing else to do but wait, Renji and Byakuya had been spending the time training with each other. He wanted to invite Ichigo for a spar, but the substitute seemed to always be so busy with Ōetsu, saying that he needed to train with his zanpakuto if he wanted to get stronger. Knowing the underlying reason why the orange-haired shinigami had avoided prolonged contact with him, Renji had reluctantly let the matter go.

Byakuya was more than enough to distract his turbulent thoughts, as it showed.

Senbonzakura was suddenly right on his face, the deathly tip a hair-breadth away from his nose. The wind whirled from the force of the blade, the precise control a testament of Byakuya's skill.

"Pay attention," the captain scolded, retracting the zanpakuto and holding it by his side. He could clearly see that Renji was distracted. Perhaps they had been at it for too long. In the other realm, it must've been night time already.

Renji glared at the other, rubbing away the feeling of the blade ghosting his nose. "That's not fair, captain, I wasn't ready!"

"All is fair in love and war," the Kuchiki offhandedly noted with a raised brow.

"Can't believe you're quoting a human phrase," dumbfounded, the redhead muttered after processing what he just heard.

"But it is true, is it not?" Byakuya said, reaching close and touching Renji's cheek to brush away a flyaway strand of scarlet and tuck it behind his ear.

The two of them had been increasingly intimate with each other, rare moments becoming more often in their spare time. At first it felt surreal for Renji, having his captain so close yet not readily threatening him. There was a part of him that longed for those contacts, the Light part of him that had always been so close to the raven's past persona. But another part of him, the Abarai Renji part, the lieutenant of the Sixth Division and subordinate to Captain Kuchiki Byakuya, that part always screamed at him that it was not appropriate for him to be so unprofessional with the man he had strived to surpass.

_I guess that doesn't matter, anymore. _

How could he hope to surpass the strength of the embodiment of Chaos itself? The pure, brute strength was enough to stop him from trying to beat him in that department. But he found himself not feeling the usual inadequateness, the envy whenever he knew that the raven was always one step ahead of him. He didn't feel like the monkey that was chasing the moon, not anymore.

Because he realized that the dynamic of their relationship had changed. They were not simply a captain and his lieutenant, he was not simply Abarai Renji who devoted himself to serve his captain for however long the position required of him, and Byakuya was not simply someone to chase after. It didn't matter that his own brute strength would never surpass Byakuya, it didn't matter that the raven would always stand physically more powerful than him.

They were bound, and they were one. It wasn't simply about power, anymore. Their power derived together, as Byakuya was bound to his Light, he was bound to Byakuya's Chaos. Deep down, he would always be Abarai Renji. He would always be headstrong, brash, and strive for more. But now he didn't have to be burdened by his self-imposed ambitions to surpass Byakuya. To chase after his shadows.

Because Byakuya was right here. And he was ever so close that he could see through his soul.

"What are you saying, captain?" he let out slowly, his eyes drooped down as their forehead touched.

_So intimate. _

"It is Byakuya," the raven chided and grew silent for a while, "...and it is exactly as I said."

His heart was beating a hundred miles an hour, and he did the only thing he could think of to hide his embarrassment.

He pressed their lips together in a firm kiss, closing his eyes, unable to look at the observant ruby eyes peering into his soul, into his heart.

And the next thing he knew, the raven had grabbed ahold of his body and flash-stepped away from the training grounds. The world whirled past him until he was gently touching the soft, billowy material of a bed. They were at Byakuya's—

"I have always denied it," the man in question started abruptly, breaking his thoughts, "calling it lust whenever my gaze was swept by your figure, your eyes," his eyes roamed across Renji's person, his fingers playing with his vermillion strands, "your hair."

"It didn't explain how my heart flutter," he kissed the silky lock as if a knight to his queen, even though they were still damp with his sweat.

Renji knew what he meant. He didn't say it, not out loud. But Renji knew.

"It's because we are bound," he whispered, unable to tear his gaze from the affectionate orbs and the way the other lovingly played with his hair.

_So intimate._

"No, Renji," Byakuya shook his head, taking the other's hand tight within his as he cupped them close to his rapidly beating heart. "Fate might have bounded our souls together, but our hearts choose."

He uttered those words with such conviction that made Renji's heart skip. But the moment those words left his mouth, Byakuya became hesitant. He loosened Renji's hand from his as he lowered his eyes. "Unless..."

Byakuya was made aware of Renji's experience as he was taken by Aizen. How he was manipulated by the illusions and the other's acts of affection. It was by the same man that Renji was reduced to a much weaker state of physique, his bones breaking, his muscles and skin tore and forcibly mended over and over again in a short period of time under Aizen's illusory world. His walls of defense broken down and his emotions used against him. It was not a surprise if he would not believe his own feelings after that. And Byakuya grew fearful of the notion that Renji would still be distrustful of his own emotions, and of Byakuya's feeling for him.

Renji decided he didn't like that look of uncertainty, of such lack of confidence in Byakuya's face. He knew, to an extent, of what Byakuya was thinking. And if he was honest to himself, he knew that the raven was right.

"I..." he started, with a croak, gulping down the bile lodging his throat, "to be honest I've never thought about it. No, I guess I always denied myself the time to even think about it."

"I was afraid," he admitted, "I don't want to—"

_I don't want to be manipulated. To be hurt again. _

"I don't want to dream of something I couldn't have."

He let out a shuddering breath. He had been denying himself for so long. Not wanting to reach the end of the road, to get an answer to his question, even when he knew he could. They were bound, as he said, and they were one. He had held himself from ascertaining the truth; but here, with Byakuya, who was looking at him in desperation and want and _affection_, he was unafraid.

He put his hand, glowing with Light, on Byakuya's face gently, his thumb caressing stoic lines away, and he _felt_. He felt the Light swirling within Byakuya, knowing it was his own, mingling with the raven's unique soul. He felt it dance and intertwining itself with his Light, the essence genuine and true.

And he felt Byakuya. His tumultuous feelings, his frustration, and deep, _deep _anger. The Chaos. He felt his desire and his desperate want. He felt Byakuya's affection, warming his soul.

"But I see now," he continued, holding Byakuya's head up to look at him in the eye, "I can feel you."

Byakuya felt freed for insurmountable burden as he looked at the love clearly stated in warm brown orbs. And so they shared another kiss. Soft and slow, this time, as they shyly began to explore each other.

A slippery tongue teased his lips, and Renji opened his mouth readily, goosebumps on his skin as it roamed, and tickled the roof of his mouth. It was so incredibly new to him that it left him breathless quicker than he would like, gripping Byakuya's upper arm as he gently pushed the raven away to breathe.

"Are you sure about this?" Byakuya asked him softly, his mouth finding the corner of Renji's lips and then his jawline, and nuzzling his ear. If they continued, he couldn't trust himself to stop.

And Renji never felt so loved. And he had never felt so sure. He nodded.

Byakuya sighed against his cheeks and looked down at Renji's laid out figure. The Seika was a sight to behold. The otherworldly glow was warm on flushed, sweat-damp skin, his eyes fevered but he looked at Byakuya with such earnest and affection.

It was as if he was finally set free from his restraints. He dived down and kissed Renji's neck, widening the training _gi_ that he was wearing over one shoulder, while loosening the obi on his _hakama_ with the other, reverently worshipping a jutting collarbone as his hands roamed across Renji's clothed figure.

It was a dream. It was a dream so beautiful, so _perfect_, Byakuya had been wanting for so long. And it came true. He resisted the urge to pinch himself, as he suckled on an already reddened mark on Renji's neck, his tastebuds filled with the saltiness of their previous exercise and pure, unadulterated _Renji_. How was he so blessed, to be able to experience what he had dreamed of, what he had imagined—

...but Renji grew tense. And he couldn't stop himself fast enough as he felt Renji coiled against him.

Renji resisted the creeping fear. He didn't want to, but as Byakuya grew bold in frenzy, knowing that he desired Renji, desired his _body_, he started to imagine strange, forceful hands instead of the raven's reverent ones, filthy mouths eating away at his flesh in greed.

"Wait—" he panicked, pushing Byakuya so hard he surprised himself, that the raven stumbled away from the bed, crashing against an unsuspecting cabinet. The sound was loud, reverberating in his own ears.

The shock was clear in Byakuya's face, but the fear crept in quickly after, as he watched the look in Renji's eyes. It dawned on him.

"We don't have to—we can take it slow," he stood up, his hands displayed in a placating manner as he approached the bed where his Renji was looking at him in shame. He felt anger in his heart as he watched the other looked away. Anger at the people, the monsters who hurt _his _Renji so much that he was reduced to be this pitiful display of his once confident self. And he felt anger at himself, for being an insatiable beast, knowing Renji wouldn't refuse him in their circumstances and taking advantage of that.

He let Byakuya touch him then, let him embrace him close to his heart, knowing that it was not of ill intention. Byakuya coiled around Renji tightly, trying to rein in his fury even as he tried to soothe the upset Seika.

"I'm sorry," Renji uttered, closing his eyes as he slumped in Byakuya's arms.

And Byakuya felt the anger flushed away, replaced by disbelief and sorrow for his Light. His Light who blamed himself for something he couldn't help. For his fears.

"You are not at fault, Renji," the raven murmured into Renji's scarlet mane, "you have never been at fault." _not for this, or anything else you blame yourself on. _

"I _want_ this," Renji insisted, sighing. He wanted this. He knew he wanted it. He knew the moment Byakuya laid his heart bare to Renji, knew when they first kissed.

Pulling away from the embrace, he looked at Byakuya in the eyes.

"I don't want to—I don't want to be _scared_ of this anymore," he confessed, "I don't want this to define my past." He pulled Byakuya down until they were lying side by side.

"I want you to overwrite it," he whispered, almost shy, searching for Byakuya's assent.

And Byakuya readily gave it to him. "I will do whatever you wish."

Renji could feel the perpetual heat on his face turned up a notch, unbelieving that somehow, Byakuya was already so enamored with him. But he realized that they have been denying themselves for so long. The raven, most of all. He found that this moment was the apex of their emotional release, as they open their hearts bare and be vulnerable within each other's arms.

* * *

Byakuya took his time.

Renji's head wandered to flitting thoughts that perhaps this was how Hisana was treated in his arms. That perhaps Byakuya was used to such gentleness around her, because of her sickly body.

"I don't know what to do with my arms," he flopped them awkwardly, just to hide his embarrassment. His past might have been filled with certain—not-so-pleasurable—aspects of copulation, but he begrudgingly admitted to himself that those were the exact reason that he had never experimented with anyone on his terms.

"You don't have to do anything," Byakuya whispered adoringly, everything was so soft, _soft, soft_ as the raven touched him, "let me take care of you." A kiss on his nose.

His hands pushed against the rim of Renji's already loosened _hakama_, pulling down the material to caress a quivering thigh. "Worship you as you deserve to be worshipped." A kiss on his chest.

Renji flushed to the tips of his ears.

Byakuya was embarrassingly sappy in bed.

He felt loved and treasured as the raven revered over his body, every touch gentle and careful, that he felt like precious glass sculpture in the raven's arms. It was so different. So different from—

In his past, it always made him cheap and dirty, whenever someone embraced him. Whenever someone forced themselves on his person. He felt the pinprick of tears in his eyes with how precious, how invaluable Byakuya made him feel.

"Renji," the raven sighed against his neck, unnoticing of Renji's melting heart.

He felt more than saw his _gi _being opened, and his _fundoshi_ untied by deft hands, bracing for the cold that would meet his body as the other laid him open. He shouldn't have to worry about it, because Byakuya's every touch on his skin was a trail of fire, and every caress a spark of fireworks in his core.

Byakuya marveled at the jagged black ink dancing across the redhead's body, trailing down his long neck to his chest, resting on his hips, and curled around his upper thighs. He traced each line, feeling Renji shudder when he caressed over his chest, barely touching his hardened nipples and on his toned stomach into the dip of his belly button.

He massaged the ink curling around the jutted hipbones, reveling in the barely-there jolt on the body beneath him. All the while, feeling those molten chocolate eyes watching his every movement, feeling those hands gripping his shoulders as he traveled further down.

A small gasp was pried from Renji's mouth when Byakuya's fingers tickled his thighs, one hand barely trying to lift one thigh before his lips kissed the sensitive inner part.

"Byakuya," he inhaled sharply, unconsciously gripping the sheets under his hand as his other hand still perched on the raven's shoulder.

A particularly hard bite made him yelp in surprise. When he looked down, he noticed the raven was looking at a particular spot on his inner thigh—

"Wait, that's—!"

"What is this, Renji?" Byakuya murmured, mouthing the spot that drew out another sharp inhale from the redhead.

It was a dull, reddish scar that suspiciously looked like a blurred number. _69_ to be exact.

"It's Hisagi-san—it's not what you think!" he immediately retracted at the glare the raven threw his way.

"We were drunk with the others one night, and we thought it would be funny for him to try to tattoo his signature number on me, of course it was just a joke on my part but I didn't know he was being a serious drunk. Next thing I knew, Rangiku-san and Ikkaku grappled me while Hisagi-san 'tried' to tattoo me with his _reiatsu_. Well, as you can see it failed and scarred me for life."

"He dared to touch you in this place," Byakuya growled, his teeth touching the sensitive skin, making Renji instinctively squirm.

"It was just a dumb joke," Renji mumbled softly, his cheeks and ears as red as his hair, as red as Byakuya's glowing eyes. "You can replace his mark with your own," he continued in a whisper, the proposition not lost to Byakuya's deep interest.

"So let's..." the redhead bit his lips, his heated body twitching in interest as he peered at Byakuya with what he hoped as a seductive gaze, "let's continue?"

And how could Byakuya deny such an earnest plea?

He pounced. Snaking his arm around Renji's waist as the other caressed the red tresses on his neck, his mouth latched on the unmarked part of Renji's exposed neck and suckled harshly. When his claret gaze found the small red mark on the middle of the redhead's exposed column, he kissed it tender, eliciting a shuddered breath from the Light.

Renji could only sigh and whimper as the other explored his body once again in fervor and renewed passion. Latching on to Byakuya's shoulders, he gripped the raven's locks tight in his hand as Byakuya found the darkened nubs on his chest and toyed with them as if a babe suckling on its mother's teats. The hand traveling down his thigh teased the sensitized red mark that he left in the shape of his teeth, deliberately ignoring the heated flesh that twitched and begged for his touch.

"Byakuya, please," Renji gasped, gripping the sheets tight in his fists, "_please_."

"What do you wish for, Renji?" the other smiled, Renji decided that it was beautiful on his face, "what pleases you?"

"Touch me," Renji pleaded, feeling himself slowly losing his sanity as Byakuya teased him even more, always evading that particular spot. His fingers playing his sensitized skin like a skilled musician on a prized piano.

"I am."

Renji growled in frustration. Byakuya was deliberately ignoring that spot and he was _teasing _him. He would have been caught off-guard if he was not in such an aroused state. And the raven wasn't even naked yet.

"You know what I mea—oh!" he moaned aloud, unexpected of the sudden touch on his fevered flesh.

_At last. _

It was delightful to hear the sweet moans leaving his usually brazen redhead, watching him come undone at the slightest touch. He would ignore his aching need, protruding insistently against the material of his kimono, for however long it took for Renji to be utterly comfortable with their passionate act. It was Renji's night and he would be his loyal servant, catering to his every need.

"Your body is exquisitely sensitive, Renji," Byakuya growled, his Chaos purring in controlled aggression seeing the vulnerable display that Renji was giving him, the want—the _need_—to claim his Light nearly unbearable. It was so unlike the redhead to be so bare and left at another's mercy. And in a rare glimpse of level-headed thought, Byakuya reveled in the fact that Renji was doing this with him by his own choice, because they shared the same want.

Renji groaned, unable to take Byakuya's lewd commentary. "Don't, don't say that—!" he managed to stutter out. his mind was mush, unable to think as he was reduced to a creature of feeling and pleasure. He could feel himself reaching the end and he didn't want it to be over so soon. He tugged urgently at the collar of Byakuya's _gi_, almost ripping it open, desperate to see the other. Taking the cue, Byakuya hastily undressed, not wanting to waste a moment more away from Renji's delightful body.

Renji watched as the raven almost ripped apart at his obi, throwing it carelessly and shrugging off the dark material of his training uniform off his shoulders and practically ripping his _Hakama _in two. Noticing Renji's hungered gaze at his brazen show, feeling a sudden rush of excitement, he ran his fingers through his chest, and his torso in an act of seduction, before resting heavily on his sizable need that urged Renji to look. He lazily stroke the organ, all the while watching Renji watching him, delighting in his want.

Renji didn't know what to make of it. He was flushed head to toe—for a while now—and he was beyond embarrassed to be caught looking at another man's junk. But he couldn't stop himself from following those surprisingly strong hands now cupping the twin sacs and stroking darkened flesh in tandem. He knew Byakuya was watching his perverted gaze, knew that the other was doing it on purpose. He didn't know that his captain could be so—so _lewd_. He thought he would find disgust at himself but he didn't.

In a bold move, he got up to a seated position, unsure fingers touching the other's chest. He peered at the other and saw ruby eyes staring back at him. Byakuya guided his hand slowly, watching every minute expression change in case he was doing something Renji didn't like, and put it on his throbbing tumescence, hissing at the coldness of Renji's fingers against heated flesh.

Renji stroke the stout girth, his eyes focusing on correcting his jerky movement and he felt the ragged breath puffing against his skin, he felt Byakuya's desperate need for him. He gulped, watching the raven's pale fingers guiding his movements, a hand curled around him as Byakuya laid them down once again. A sharp gasp escaped his lips when Byakuya took his flesh in hand, their dripping needs joined in a slow massage under both their hands. He could feel the heft of Byakuya against him, sliding together and making lewd noises he could only imagine in his dirtiest dreams.

Their combined moans and sighs filled the room, exchange of breathless names and wanton kisses that took breaths away, as their flesh danced to an erotic rhythm. All oxygen was slowly being sucked away from his lungs as he felt himself climbing the steep peak of catharsis. Not a moment longer he let out a long, drawn-out moan in the cusp of pleasure as he fell into blissful abyss.

His chest was heaving as he drew a shuddering breath, his sensorial in chaos as he could hear every heartbeat, every agonizing gasp for breath, and the trickle of his release being mixed and spread on his sensitized flesh by Byakuya's slowing hand. The raven's panting echoed his own, as the other reluctantly drew their flesh away.

When he saw with his fevered gaze that Byakuya was pitifully tending to his need silently, noticing that the other hadn't experienced what he did, Renji took the moving hand in his. The look in his eyes as he guided Byakuya's hand away was obvious enough, but then he laid back down and spread his legs in silent invitation.

That took Byakuya's breath away almost instantly. He drew close, numbly asking if it was what Renji wanted. His eyes, though filled with untamed desire, clear enough to see and understand Renji's smile. He was almost positive that it was a dream, if not for the angrily aching want in his groin, pulsating every which way.

"I will prepare you now," Byakuya informed the redhead softly, his voice rough with want, letting his fingers danced across the sweet, furled flower underneath Renji's flesh and teasing the sensitive skin in between with his thumb which made Renji jolt, "will you let me?"

He asked so sweetly that Renji had to look away. The other knew the answer to that, anyway. He didn't have to ask about _that_.

The bed dipped as Byakuya kneeled up, placing Renji's thighs on his and over his narrow hips, his throbbing rod ignored for the time. Renji braced himself, his hands once again finding refuge on the crumpled, damp sheets as he watched with heavy-lidded eyes the raven pressing his thumbs on the inner parting of his cheeks and spread them with one as the other dipped shallowly inside. Sensing no tenseness from the body before him, the raven circled a slick finger—when did he get the oil?—against the opening before pressing slowly inside.

Renji closed his eyes at the initial breach, the sensation familiar, though he was almost surprised that it was not unpleasant. The appendage thrust patiently inside, the oil providing enough slick to make the passage smooth. Then the finger started to move, slowly loosening the entrance for what was to come. It helped that Renji was relaxed, and he didn't notice as the second one followed, until the two began to scissor him.

Jerking at the odd sensation, he watched the concentration on Byakuya's face, the flushed skin that matched his own, and the silent anticipation as he watched the other's still aching need twitch in place. He was so utterly distracted in his awe that when a third finger entered and suddenly pushed against a certain spot within him, he could feel his entire body jump.

"Beautiful," Byakuya whispered to himself, entranced by the motion of that swan-like neck being exposed, the lean, inked body arched in a perfect bow when the Light let out a cry as he pressed against the pleasure spot inside him over and over again, his sated need slowly rising once again.

Thinking that he had done enough to stretch the passage for his entry, Byakuya pulled his fingers out ever so slowly, feeling the flesh twitch and tighten as he glided out, as if not wanting him to leave. He would remedy that soon enough.

When a blunt head pressed against his furled opening, Renji felt his body tense up without his assent. This time, Byakuya notice it before it was too late and pulled back his flesh with the effort that could move the moon.

"Do not force yourself if it hu—"

"Do it, Byakuya. Do it," Renji cut him with a glare—though Byakuya decided that his debauched face cancel the heat rather deliciously—urging his body to relax once more.

Gulping, Byakuya nodded and lowered himself until he was hovering not an inch away from Renji's face, distracting him with a kiss as he breached the tight passage. He muffled his moans at the sensation with a kiss on Renji's neck, hearing the sharp intake of breath but grateful for the lack of tenseness in the other's muscles.

"Renji, you are sublime," he let out a long groan as he pushed in completely, letting Renji adjust, and taking a breather for himself less he lost all control from the delectable tightness and release his pleasure before having taken another from Renji.

When he felt Renji pushed against him, taking another sigh from his lips, he hiked the glamorously long legs higher around his waist, the limbs instinctively curled and tightened against him. Those teasing feet nudged against his back, urging him to move. The wall of flesh surrounding his heated column tightened, making him grunt at Renji's teasing act.

So he started a gentle rock, one hand on Renji's waist as the other caressed his face, their lips interlocking constantly as he swallowed the redhead's sounds of ecstasy.

"You accept me so well into your embrace," Byakuya whispered filthily against Renji's ear, heated breath tickling the sensitive skin. It took all his might not to simply drove inside and lose all control of his mind. Everything about Renji was pleasurable, and he would gladly drown in him for eternity if he was so allowed.

"Don't be—ah, crude," Renji gasped out when Byakuya suddenly pressed his tumescence against the bundle of nerves that drove him wild. They took on a faster pace as he felt himself adjusting, that pleasure spot was hit over and over again until he had lost himself, the raven mercilessly taking one of his reddened nipples in his mouth, while his hand played with the other.

Byakuya nuzzled his cheeks against him, finding his lips curving in a smile even as he panted in the exertion of reigning in his beast. Renji felt his heart melt, knowing that Byakuya was restraining himself short from utterly wrecking him in wild abandon.

"Byakuya," he let out a pleasured sigh, the raven's motion hastening to desperate thrusts as they both felt the edge drawing closer and closer. The frame of the bed they were on rattled due to the impactful force that drove Byakuya further into Renji's beautiful nirvana. The sounds that erupted from Renji's mouth were alien to his own ears, keens and cries merged together in a harmonics of debauched chaos. Byakuya's own inputs deep and wild, glimpses of his beast showing through in their climb towards the glorious end of a long-awaited climax.

"Surrender yourself Renji," Byakuya whispered breathlessly to his ear, "surrender everything to me, as I, you."

And their lips met again as they approached the heights of gratification.

_At last._

* * *

"Your potential is really something else, Ichigo," Nimaiya Ōetsu thoughtfully tapped his chin as he measured the other's _reishi_. They had been training non-stop with Ichigo's Zangetsu. The spirits within were unique if nothing else. They were spirits conflicting with each other due to the nature of Ichigo's Hollow and his Shinigami spirit. But Ōetsu could sense something else from the past few days he had helped the other finding the perfect balance and connection with his zanpakuto. Something untapped. He knew that Ichigo was not a full-fledged shinigami, but to have such an... interesting spirit within almost shocked Ōetsu. Then again, he might just be—no. Perhaps.

They would surprise him yet.

Ichigo paused at that, Zangetsu lowered. "What do you mean?," he raised his brow. The Royal Guard was eccentric at best, and liked to talk in winded speech—like most of them did.

"Well, it kinda reminds me of the lore of the Seika's champion, ya know, with how the champion that's blessed by the Seika will harness their boundless potential strength," Ōetsu sighed, shrugging all the while rambled his thoughts. He was testing his theory too soon, but the orange-hair was right, they need to do something fast before Aizen launched any unexpected surprise in their faces.

Ichigo froze at that. His brain short-circuited for a while as he connected what the other had said.

"I'm a fucking idiot," he groaned, slapping his forehead. _That was what I kept forgetting_, he thought, berating his own stupidity.

"I gotta go," he hastily shouted as he left the dark space of Ōetsu's training ground filled with unnamed Asauchi.

"What the heck—wait a minute here you brat!" the afro-haired Royal Guard shouted back but knowing that it was futile.

"Let's see where this takes us, shall we?" he muttered to himself.

On the other hand, Ichigo was running as fast as he could. He needed to see Renji and Byakuya—and the Tennō, especially the Tennō.

_The Seika could only return when he had found the Champion. _

_So how can Renji be here?_

* * *

-_ to be continued -_

* * *

WEMONN—and suddenly Ichigo had to ruin the moment lol

Okay, please tell me what you think of that scene because it was my first and I was all hot and squealing writing it xD As you can see the build-up, um, the 'foreplay' and the deed takes up more than 60% of this chapter in words lol _I counted that._

Oh, and if you love Bleach or simply love Bleach fanfic, consider joining The Seireitei on Discord xD


	24. Chapter 24 - The One Who was Chosen

Chapter 24 – The One Who was Chosen

* * *

A small jostle in the bed woke him up from his sleep. A dull throb on his spine, almost pleasant, as he squinted his eyes open on the dark room as the sound of footsteps fading away from the bedside.

Renji groaned, stretching his arm to the other side of the bed, finding it empty, yet still warm. Nuzzling his face against the pillow as he breathed in the scent of musk and blossoms, a quiet voice could be heard talking on the large door to the room, a hint of light from the hallway slowly being shut as the door closed.

"Cap'n...?" he slurred, his eyes not quite focused as he watched the other approached.

Byakuya entered the room with what looked like a basin in his hands, a loose yukata thrown over his body as he padded quietly on bare feet to where the redhead lied. He noticed the stir on the bed as he talked to the servant that procured him his necessities, quickly dismissing her as he returned to his exhausted lieutenant's side.

"Rest, Renji," he murmured softly, sitting on the edge of the mattress, taking a drenched cloth from the basin that he wrung out. He applied the cloth, warm and lightly floral-scented, on Renji's skin and rub it across his bare shoulder, wiping away hints of dried... bodily fluids that managed to stray there.

Renji frowned, trying to talk but sleep made his words sluggish. "Wha'r ye doin'?"

"I am cleaning your body from our last copulation," was the simplistic answer.

"You..." he felt himself flush at the blunt words, his head falling back into the fluffy pillow and turned his head away in embarrassment. "Ne'r mind."

Never mind that it was the first time someone had done it to Renji, instead of leaving him to tend to himself, to his—injuries. He subconsciously leaned closer to the soft touch of the cloth, the gentle hands that prodded and inspected at his skin for any damage. Even as he stifled the hiss from the stinging sensation as the cloth ever so lightly dabbed over the bitemarks that managed to tore his skin, as it ghosted over the spot that had been connected with Byakuya over and over again that night, trickling fluids evident of their previous activity, he closed his eyes in content.

The next time he opened his eyes, the natural light coming from the windows seeped into the room gently, absorbed by the sheer, white curtains that made the atmosphere calm and relaxed in the early morn. Even if the lights were artificial, he basked in the afterglow of their night together.

He looked down at the precious cargo tucked beside him, a head full of raven hair nuzzled against his chest while an arm clung around his bare waist possessively—he always tended to kick the blankets off.

He unconsciously laid a hand on the soft tufts of raven locks, caressing the strands like precious silk. Byakuya looked innocent in his sleep, all worry-lines and stoic tautness washed away, leaving behind a youthful face of a man barely in his adulthood, not at all a military captain and the head of one of the most powerful noble clan in Soul Society.

The raven stirred, a soft purr at the ministration, and tightened his hold on the redhead. Adorable.

His barely contained chuckle seemed to do the trick and wake the light sleeper. When ruby eyes peeked up to meet his own, he lazily smiled. "...Byakuya."

Immediately the youthful innocence was gone, replaced by a worried frown as he lifted his head slightly to observe and hint of discomfort on Renji's face and body. "Are you hurting anywhere?"

"Good morning to you too," Renji snorted, putting his hand down to lay on Byakuya's shoulder instead.

"Renji," the raven narrowed his eyes, disengaging from the admittedly wonderful feeling against Renji's warm embrace and leaned on his elbow, pushing away stray strands of red silk from the amused face of his Light.

"I'm _fine_, jeez. It's just sex," Renji rolled his eyes at his worry-wart of a captain, "I ain't some blushing virgin either, ya know."

"But you bled," Byakuya pushed on, slightly annoyed by Renji's disregard of his own well-being. When he was cleaning up Renji's body, he noticed hints of red amongst _others_ that drizzled from Renji's entrance, knowing that he did that in his excitable state the other night, guilt crushing him.

"We just got a little excited, Byakuya," the redhead mumbled. Seeing the still increasingly deepening frown on Byakuya's pitiful expression, he leaned closer to him and pecked the raven.

"I enjoyed last night," he assured, then wiggled his brows, "_all_ of it."

Thinking that was it, Renji got up to get some salvageable clothing to put on before heading to the springs. "Now let's get—_shit_!"

He didn't expect the sharp, stinging pain that zapped his spine from the particular spot on his back that made him topple over.

"Renji," Byakuya was quick, and he grabbed ahold of the redhead before he hit the floor right on that aching spot on his arse.

"Okay, maybe a little bit _too excited_," the redhead offered sheepishly, hissing as he straightened himself. They did go several rounds—two? ... three? But compared to the other times in his past, this, comparably, made him feel _spoiled_.

"Let me help you," Byakuya almost grumble, one hand snatching the clean sheets to cover Renji's naked body and hoisting him up.

"Captain!" the redhead protested, but groan in pain when he moved too much.

"It is easier this way," the smug raven had the audacity to smirk as he carried his pouting cargo out of the room into the empty hallway.

* * *

"Thank god no one was around," Renji mumbled, leaning back against the smooth stones as he sank deeper into the hot spring, "I will never live it down if Ichigo saw—_gods_."

"You were injured, Renji," Byakuya minded, miffed that the redhead even mentioned the name of the insolent substitute, "there is nothing to be ashamed of."

"Well you try getting princess carried as a grown-ass man," Renji said vindictively to Byakuya, which was mostly ignored by the raven.

He was more pressed to observe the droplets of water sensual traverse across the redhead's body as the other scoop them up on his chest, trickling down his long figure, licking at the erotic tattoos and dipping down the slope of his belly button before rejoining the mass of water below that barely able to shield what lied under. The redhead turned unapologetically, though he was sure that Renji's didn't mean to deliberately _seduce,_ and showed the rest of his figure, slicked back vermillion tresses wet and curled, hugging his naked back like a second-skin.

The next thing he knew, he was caressing those bare shoulders, eliciting goosebumps, his hands traveled where the water went, across the lean torso, and rested on the swell of Renji's lower back.

Renji felt more than saw the excited pillar of flesh that nudged against his lower cheeks, while his face grew heated from more than just the temperature of the hot spring water.

"Still excited, little fella?" he mumbled, throwing back a knowing smirk at the raven.

"It will go away soon," Byakuya responded tightly. Hating his uncontrollable libido, knowing that the redhead was still far from recovered—albeit rather smugly—he shouldn't be so ungrateful. He willed himself to calm down, perhaps the heat of the spring wasn't helping any. He should've gone to the colder spring, away from Renji's tantalizing figure at the very least. But his body was rooted on the spot.

"I don't think so, I mean look at it," Renji blinked, almost surprised by the response while pointedly looking at the flesh that was still incessantly pressing against him. If not for the hot spring water it was submerged in, Renji suspected the flesh must've been quite heated to the touch judging by the _color_ alone. He gulped.

"W-what do you propose should be done?" the raven's nerves made him stutter some, but he was quick to rectify as the Seika let his own fingers travel across Byakuya's body. He held still, afraid that Renji's fingers would shy away, the slow trail agonizing. He stifled a gasp of surprise when those mischievous fingers pinched one pebbled nipple.

"Well I'm still _sore_," Renji emphasized, looking pointedly at Byakuya. He also didn't think that he would be able to get it up for the rest of the day, to be completely honest himself. His body was utterly wrecked and sexually exhausted. he didn't know how the noble managed to be so _excited_ after all that. The Chaos energy, _must_ _be_.

"So," he put on a crooked smile, plunging down his hand that was still touching the other into the water and gave the stocky column an experimental tug.

"_Renji,_" Byakuya groaned, instinctively spreading his legs wider for better access, his voice rough with want but he steadied himself by gripping the rocks behind him, the hard element cracking under the force of his strength.

"When all this is over," the redhead said almost coyly, leaning against Byakuya as he watched his fingers moved up and down, _up and down_, "when all this is over maybe we can 'explore' some more, yeah?"

Byakuya's breath hitched at the suggestion, throwing his head back at a particularly delicious _twist_ up the crown. "_Mm_, an excellent—_ah_, proposition."

The redhead's pace quickened, eyes torn between fascinated by Byakuya's warping expressions and the swollen column under his ministration. The raven's hips thrust upwards aggressively against his motion, breaching the surface, the movements lewd and telling that he was close before he suddenly erupted with a low growl.

Watching the rather murky white substance dribbled down his hand and into the water, Renji whistled, "that was quick."

Byakuya glowered, which only made laughter burst from Renji's mouth, the twinkling sound echoing in the vast chamber.

* * *

"Hey, you!" Ichigo shouted down a nondescript servant, shaking his head at his own crude language. "Sorry, I mean, _excuse me_," he said sheepishly, jogging to catch up with the man who paused in his steps, confusion clear in his eyes.

"May I help you, sir?" the servant asked politely, reminded that the Royal Guards were having important guests, a first, to be sure. This disrespectful young man must be one of them, from the looks of it.

"Have you seen Renji and—uh, I mean the Seika and his... guardian?" Ichigo paused, not knowing whether the nonplussed man knew who he was talking about.

Recognition dawned on the servant's face. "I think they are in the hot springs—sir? _Sir_, they are still—!"

Too late, Ichigo was gone with a half-hearted 'thanks!' shouted his way, sprinting to the direction that the servant told him.

"I got up fucking early to train and they're still in the fucking _hot springs_, unbelievable," Ichigo grumbled to himself along the way, thanking Senjumaru for showing him the way to the non-deathly hot springs after he got out of the Kirinden the first time. He didn't want to rot just to clean his bod, thank you very much. Alas, the circumstances were awkward with her watching almost his every move before showing herself out to leave him in his privacy after him _begging _her to. He swore all these dangerous female characters he met had a thing for nude men in springs. _Not that he minded_, but that was not the point.

Reaching the entrance of the baths, he immediately called out loudly. "Oi, Renji! You here?"

"Ichigo?" the redhead emerged from the entrance, catching Ichigo by surprise.

The redhead was wearing a loose, white yukata with pink cherry blossom petals embroidered on the hems and bottom of the cloth, reminisce of his favorite nightwear back in Soul Society. His hair was a dark cherry, still damp and his skin slightly flushed from the hot spring water. He wore his yukata very loosely, to Ichigo's fragile grasp on his sanity, the tattoo's on his chest peeking through quite easily to onlookers, a classic on how he usually dressed.

"U-uh... hey," Ichigo backpedaled, "mornin'," he coughed, struggling to conceal his blunder by acting aloof, but the bright red flush reaching the tips of his ears gave him away quite easily. Renji really had no sense of self-preservation, did he?

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya exited shortly after, putting on a big, long-sleeved black _kosode_ on Renji's figure and tying the _obi_ loosely to effectively cover his modestly dressed body. He himself was wearing what looked like his _shihakusho_ along a modified captain's _haori_ with a high collar. Something seemed and looked different in the raven, but Ichigo couldn't quite place what—besides his uniform and perpetual _red _eyes that glowed black whenever he was angry, obviously.

"You are a nuisance," the raven snarled, almost shielding Renji from view.

Even Ichigo could see that something changed between the two of them. They were friendly the last few days, yes, having made up their previous conflicts. But this time around... it seemed as if they were even closer. And Ichigo knew. He wasn't stupid, nor was he simply an inexperienced youngster. He knew hickeys when he saw them, and he saw the possessive bite marks littered Renji's collar bones, noticed the slight limp on his gait, no matter how hard the redhead tried to conceal it.

So excuse him if he grew pissed off. He couldn't help the jealousy, the green-eyed monster tearing down his common sense, and a strange growl escaped his mouth before he could help himself as he readied for a brawl.

"Byakuya," the redhead in question pushed Byakuya back and glared at him, and then at the taunted teenager, "_Ichigo_, don't be fucking idiots, alright? Stop it."

At the upset tone on Renji's voice, both the raven and the orange-haired shinigami relaxed their stances, albeit jerkily. If only for the redhead, they would stay civil in his presence. Ichigo slapped himself internally, blaming his Hollow for acting as he did. It wasn't in his character to be so jealous. Especially for something, or _someone_, that wasn't even his.

Seeing a reluctant truce forming from the two other shinigami, Renji pinched the bridge of his nose. It was hypocritical of him to call them out like that, since he knew he was also a very easily antagonized person. It was just that no one was there to spark his aggression as of late, with Ichigo becoming demure and comfy with him instead of taunting him for a fight as he did many times before.

"So what's up?" he shook the distracting thoughts away, for now, turning to face the orange-haired shinigami, Byakuya ever so subtly slinking closer to him, the back of his hand touching Renji's own.

"The Tennō," Ichigo started, ignoring the casual gesture as best as he could, turning serious once again, "he said that you can only 'ascend' when you find your champion."

Seeing the strange look crossed Renji's eyes, Ichigo hesitated, a sinking feeling—dread mixed with hopefulness—filled him. "So you... you have?"

Before Renji got the chance to answer, heavy footsteps resounded, showing the large figure of Hyōsube Ichibe standing by the end of the hall. He was holding Senbonzakura and Zabimaru in his hands.

"The Tennō is expecting you," the leader of the Royal Guard simply said, gesturing for the three of them to follow.

"I guess it's time," Renji sighed.

Ichigo blinked, knowing that he was left out of some information again. "What? What time?"

"Let's get going Carrot," the redhead called, Byakuya trailing behind him silently as they followed Ichibe, taking each of their respective zanpakuto in their hands, "we'll talk about it there."

* * *

The Ascension was an entirely alien experience. Ichigo wasn't sure he would want to go through that again, feeling his stomach rolling around as the heavenly energy that was very much unlike _reishi_ enveloped him completely. If it weren't pulling him up, he was sure his entire body would melt into the ground due to the density. The next thing he knew, he was in a place similar to the one in the Soul King's Palace, but he knew—he couldn't put his finger on it—that it was different. He wasn't in the same realm anymore. He could tell, for a fact, there was no single drop of _reishi_ in the air. Instead it hummed into his very bones, the same energy that transported him, but gentle and dispersed instead of deathly and highly concentrated.

Renji explained to him that the Tennō's realm does not follow the natural order of the spiritual realms below it, consisting of some level of _reishi_ to keep things balanced and in order. Instead, the Tennō himself exuded living energy that brought life to the entire—albeit considerably much smaller in size—realm. Ichigo in his shinigami form could only survive in the _reishi_-less realm due to the protective Ōken clothing that Senjumaru weaved, and his self-sustained _reiryoku_, much like any lieutenant-level and above shinigami could, while a normal soul would immediately perish due to the lack of _reishi_ sustaining their form.

They passed by several servants of the Tennō, and Byakuya nodded at the healer when he noticed her coming out of her office. Renji told Ichigo that these people were once shinigami who acquitted their duties to follow the Royal Guards and serve the Tennō.

When they finally arrived, he was waiting for them. His imposing figure stood from the enormous throne, a smile on his face as he approached the trio.

Ichigo knew that the Tennō called them in for the sake of the discussion he had in mind. He wasn't oblivious enough to ignore the signs. When he asked Renji before, and the convenient time that Ichibe picked them up. Ichigo even suspected that he had been waiting for this to happen. Somehow these mastermind types always got on his nerves.

"So what the hell is going on?" Ichigo immediately jumped into the main topic, "you said that Renji can only go back here when he found the Champion. 'Fate' or whatever said that to you."

Renji cut it down to the chase, sighing. "It's because I _have_."

Not surprised by the answer, Ichigo nodded, hoping the other would reveal the identity of his chosen champion. He snidely thought that it was Byakuya, since the raven seemed to be getting it all these days. But a rational thought slapped him in the head, scolding himself that he sounded like he _wanted_ the power, which was disturbing in itself. He wasn't Aizen.

"Well?" he pressed impatiently when no one had spoken a thing. The Tennō looked expectantly at Renji, as if he knew the answer but didn't want to reveal it himself, while Byakuya was disgruntled but remain silent by Renji's side with his arms crossed. He seemed like he knew too, from his stance, and he looked quite upset. Perhaps it wasn't him, after all?

"Look, don't—don't panic," Renji said placatingly, which further confused Ichigo and heightened his curiosity.

"It's you."

Ichigo snorted. "I mean obviously I—wait what?"

"You're the Champion, Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya finally stated coolly, uncrossing his arms, underlying his ire for the substitute, "the Seika chose _you_."

Renji threw a side-way look at Byakuya and smiled sheepishly, scratching his cheek. "To be honest I only knew about that 'rule' when Father told us a couple days ago. But I already chose you by then, so I guess we're lucky," he said offhandedly as if he didn't just reveal one of the biggest shocking news Ichigo ever heard in his life.

"... why didn't you tell me?" he questioned weakly, not knowing how to react. His ego before was secretly hoping for him to be the Champion, but now it seemed it had quieted down due to the burden he realized he was going to carry. To be the Seika's champion was to face and eliminate 'Evil'. The old commander was once, in his prime, and even a shinigami that _ridiculously strong_ failed. Not to mention that they were facing Aizen on top of it all.

"It wasn't the right time to... We were all pretty banged up physically _and_ mentally," Renji sighed, knowing Ichigo would understand what he was talking about. Shame took over his head that he was making excuses for himself, remembering how he wanted to escape and not face the problem while shirking his duties at the same time. Byakuya silently took his hand in his and squeezed. He was grateful for that.

"But I can't be," Ichigo denied, looking at his hands and turning back at the redhead, "I feel no different and I can't see your... glow? That's what the Captains told me before about this whole Seika business."

At Ichigo's ongoing confusion, the Tennō extrapolated slowly, heads turning to him. "He hasn't blessed you with the _Tenfuku_ yet. But he already chose you. Fate acknowledges that."

Ichigo massaged his temples. "I don't even fucking understand what the hell is going on here." Was this why Nimaiya said what he said? He could feel Ichigo's potential as the Seika's champion?

"The world works in curious ways," the Tennō remarked in sympathy, "sometimes we simply have to accept it and move along."

"Since when?" he asked, finally. He at least deserved to know that.

"I don't know," Renji answered honestly, "you could say since the last time we fought."

Memories of their fight entered Ichigo's mind. He remembered it as clear as the day it happened. When Renji intercepted Ichigo on his quest to save Rukia, doing his duty even when it was against his conscience. His crimson hair loose and draped over his bloodied figure in the wake of his defeat. His one, earnest wish for Ichigo to save her, in the end. The feeling that he had been entrusted with tremendous responsibility and honor at the same time.

The same feeling he was feeling now.

"I mean, yeah, I didn't remember any of this back then. But... I saw your resolve when you beat me, Ichigo. When you did your worst to save Rukia," Renji said, nostalgia in his voice, "I knew then as I know now that you will fight against injustice, no matter what, and no matter who. I guess the dormant Seika within just picked up on that."

As it did with Yamamoto.

And as it did with Sousuke... before he betrayed his own justice.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya started, surprising both Ichigo and Renji, "as much as I am loath to admit this, Renji is correct. I have seen your resolve and determination. And no matter how much I am against this, you are... worthy of the _Tenfuku_." _I will cut you down if you go against this honor_, was left unsaid. They could hear it screaming from his blackened eyes.

And who would not be speechless after that? The Kuchiki Byakuya himself, the man who hated Ichigo's guts since day one, the person who had been against his very existence in Soul Society, who thought that he was a nuisance in their world order, _admitted_ to his face that Ichigo was worthy of something so, _so _ridiculously gigantic and entirely out of the grasps of his brain.

Even so, he—hesitated.

"You don't want this, Ichigo?" Renji asked, his eyes held doubts, that perhaps he shouldn't have been so haphazard in his choice. He could see the conflict in Ichigo's eyes, even without the power of his Light. He realized that Ichigo was simply a young man, barely finishing his education and already dealing with so many problems that weren't even his. Renji felt like an idiot for not thinking this through. But he didn't know what would happen if a chosen Champion rejected his position. What would happen to both of them?

"_Fuck_, Renji, I..." Renji held his breath when Ichigo paused, ruffling his hair. It was no time to panic, but he did.

Ichigo looked at the guilt-ridden expression on the redhead's face, and sighed, making up his mind. He didn't want that look there anymore. He steeled himself, strengthening his resolve, that yes, he had been involved since day one, and he would be damned if he didn't see it through the end.

"Of course I do. If this makes us stand a chance against Aizen, _of course_ I will accept this."

Renji felt his heart clenched, he was relieved but he felt as if he had just doomed his friend to a life of misfortune. He didn't want Ichigo to force himself.

But they didn't have much of a choice. He would have to make it up big time for the teenager.

He nodded, steeling his resolve, and let Byakuya's hand go as he approached his friend. He could feel the thumping pulse of Byakuya's disgruntled energy, but he knew the raven could handle it.

Taking a deep breath and looking at his Father for affirmation, Renji nodded and faced Ichigo. He asked if the other was ready, to Ichigo's surprised.

"What, like, right _now_?"

Renji paused, frowning at the question. "We can do this anytime you want but... Aizen—"

"You're right. Right, got no time to lose," Ichigo cut him, shaking his head. Of course. He was the one urging everyone to step on it, and now they were. He nodded his assent, even though he was still in the dark of what the process entailed. He trusted Renji.

"Get this, Ichigo. I'm not giving you power that you don't already have," Renji explained, Light emerged from within his body, traveled to his right hand as he held them up to Ichigo's chest, "the _Tenfuku_ will simply make you realize your untapped potential, as I did with Ryuu-san."

Not seeing what the Tennō and Byakuya were seeing as the glow of the Light still beyond his comprehension, Ichigo raised his eyebrow in question. "The old man?"

"Yeah," Renji grinned, tapping his hand against Ichigo's chest, "you yourself have to learn how to control it, lest you destroy us all."

"Real confidence boost, Ren," the substitute shinigami grumbled, squaring his shoulders and looked down at the hand that seemed to be getting warmer against his chest, and into his core.

Renji looked at him and gave him an odd smile.

_"Are you ready?"_

* * *

It was early morning, the birds were chirping beautifully on their perch on the high trees, and he could finally feel the Light seeping into his core, beckoning him.

"At last," he crooned, getting up from his seat. His followers straightened up, following his to the barren outdoor.

"Deal with them," he said as he opened for them the entrance to another realm. Stepping away as he felt himself enveloped in Light, and drawing it to him, feeling the warmth. The surge of heavenly energy. it was bountiful. It was _sublime_.

He looked at the eyes of his most trusted, cerulean blue sharp with a silent request. He nodded, watching the silver-haired shinigami went through the portal, leaving him with his three strongest minions.

* * *

"So we can't do anything?" Hitsugaya Toshiro surmised from what he just heard.

It was their daily captain's meeting, which recently had been consisted of strategizing against the forces of Aizen Sousuke and establishing communication with their assets in the Soul King's Palace. The meeting had also been moved to the First Division war room, instead of the large meeting hall for a more focused discussion and exchange of ideas.

"Unless he's leaving that area, there's not much that we can do," Kurotsuchi shrugged, leaning back on his high-back chair, "he must've used a teleportation device, or the Hōgyoku itself knowing him, to connect wherever he was before to that specific location. Because if he didn't, he would have to open the seal the first time, and my analyzer would pick it up and pinpoint his exact location."

"That clever bastard," Komamura rumbled on his seat.

"We can build a perimeter," Hitsugaya thought aloud, throwing it out as a suggestion "we might not know his exact location, but we have ascertained that it is somewhere in the forestry of Kyoto," he looked at Kurotsuchi for confirmation of the fact, to which the clown-like captain inclined his head.

"At least we can narrow down some," Ukitake leaned forward on the table, resting his chin against his folded hands thoughtfully, "barricade the area with _bakudo_. We can get Urahara Kisuke to form a perimeter-wide barrier once we get a general idea of the seal's size and properties."

Concluding the rough sketch of an action plan, Yamamoto turned the topic to another pressing matter. "What of the Soul King's Palace?"

"Still no progress, Captain-Commander," Soi Fon answered this time, reveling in Kurotsuchi's frustrated garbles.

"Then get the Kido Corps to—"

A loud noise permeated throughout the meeting room. All the faces turned to the source—Kurotsuchi.

"Oh, my bad. Let's see," he said unapologetically, taking out a tablet-like device from his wide sleeve. It attracted the attention of the other occupants in the room. Soi Fon, especially, as she stood from her seat to get behind Kurotsuchi and take a look at the screen.

Their eyes widen at the content on the small monitor. What seemed like a spike of Hollow signatures and something rather _familiar_ in Seireitei appeared on the screen. The petite captain looked at the other captains in the room with sharp eyes and a determined nod.

'**Source of signature: Kyoto.'**

Kurotsuchi's golden teeth showed in a wide grin as he asked the room's occupants, "ready for a sudden reunion?"

* * *

Bright white greeted him, along with the shocked expressions on the four who arrived in front of him. He basked on the large being who shot a sharp, deathly glare to his direction.

His three soldiers readied themselves behind him. He smiled at the beautiful vermillion flowing against the scorched background.

"I have missed you."

* * *

_\- to be continued -_

* * *

Oh damn. Things are gonna get rough, messy and full of sh*t before it goes down and... well. Only several chapters left before I can finally start with the smutty plot bebes (that's what I'm calling my plot bunnies 'kay) about this entire thing. Allllll full of ByaRen goodness I've always been waiting for in the ff community xD


	25. Chapter 25 - False God

Chapter 25 – False God

* * *

The air was suffocating, his heart constricted and his eyes unseeing, blinded by the surge of Light that entered him and swirling all around him. The sensation was painful to the edge of numbing. He screamed but he couldn't hear himself. White noise exploded in his ears and he was left wanting for mercy. Anything at all, to get him out of this prison of Light and pain.

He gasped out a cry for help, at least he thought he did, his arms stretched out for anyone to pull him out. No one was there. At least, he couldn't see them in the sea of white, white, _white _lights that pierced into his very soul, his very own living energy being pulled apart and in went the foreign, _alien_ energy that breached his most vulnerable corners and shed light to his darkest shadows.

He could almost hear the two spirits in his inner realm calling for him, could almost see their silhouette amidst the white, reaching out for him. The dark shadows of the old man and his Hollow counterpart blending in his vision, fusing together into something new, or perhaps something that should be, all along. He called out to them, but his hands were grasping thin air.

Then he could feel something changed. When his spirits merged, or became complete, became something that it should've been from the start, he felt his soul being etched together by the very Light that pierced him, its threads stitched together unknown parts of his soul, unknown part of his origin, back into his core. And he could feel it in his bones, the muscles thrumming with a strength he didn't know he possessed, could feel the surge of power as his hands grasped the two blades of his manifested spirits. He could feel the energy of his _reiatsu _exploded all around the area, the Light dissipating into nothingness.

When he opened his eyes, Aizen was waiting.

* * *

"What..."

They were not in the Tennõ's throne room. No, in fact they were the furthest from the heavenly realm they were at before. Standing in the middle of large, burnt land, surrounded on all sides by looming trees and an old Japanese mansion, he knew they were at a place he least expected. He could feel the different energy in the air. The lack of _reishi_.

The Material World.

Aizen Sousuke was there. With his three Espada. Coyote Starrk. Barragan Louisenbairn. Tier Harribel.

And Renji was walking straight to Aizen's awaiting arms.

"Renji!" he shouted in alarm, moving to stop his friend.

Byakuya already way ahead of him and tried to stop Renji's slow, yet steady movement towards the man who promised destruction upon the realms. The raven pulled Renji towards himself, but an unstoppable force made him stumble as the redhead easily broke out of his hold. His eyes widen as he struggled against his own body.

The Light compelled him to remain. He couldn't do anything.

_Why?_ It dawned on Renji as if the world crashed down upon him. He could finally feel the oddity he felt deep in his core of Light. And obstructing entity that channeled his power without his permission.

"Sou... suke," Renji forced out with a struggle, even as he inched closer and closer to the man he once deemed worthy, "the _Hōgyoku_... you used it on me."

No. You..." he ground his teeth, shaking his head as he let out frustrated groans, trying to stop his feet from moving when he didn't want them to, "you put it... _inside me_."

"Remarkable, little bird," Aizen smiled, his arms encircling the other into his embrace. Renji slumped on his chest against his will, heaving in exertion even as he bit his lip until it bled.

Somehow Aizen managed to put the Hōgyoku inside Renji, much like what happened to Rukia before, and the orb had secretly resided within his core since the last time he was with the man. The blasted orb could've manipulated his every move according to Aizen's will... and he wouldn't know. The healer who mend his mind, Byakuya, Ichigo, himself... they might have been played under Aizen's thumb all along.

Was it his own decision to give Ichigo the Tenfuku? For all he knew, it was all according to the brunet's plan. And everything else that happened before, his state of mind, it was only possible because of the Hōgyoku that was giving him visions. And Aizen could've known of everything else that happened after...

He knew about the Tennō, knew of the Soul King, he knew of everything that Renji knew. He could tear Soul Society and every other realm apart with his knowledge... with his power.

He whimpered in defeat. And Aizen saw when Renji was... with Byakuya.

Aizen saw everything.

"**Aizen**," Byakuya growled, even stock still in his place. His eyes were _black_, and everything around him was propelled away and the air darkened due to the force of his restrained Chaos. The Light that Renji was forcefully controlling inside him the only thing keeping him at bay.

"Kuchiki Byakuya," Aizen greeted mockingly, even as he petted Renji's hair, the redhead was silent and unmoving, "you have become... stronger."

"Ah, should I say, you have become your _true_ self," he corrected himself. Kurosaki Ichigo charged with a cry, and he only had to incline his head for Tier Harribel to move and defend him while he was occupied. The blonde Espada was pushed back with the shinigami's tremendous power, his _reiatsu_ encompassing the area with its heaviness.

Aizen was unmoved.

"**Release him**," Byakuya grounded out, his Chaos fighting against the restraint. It was a long and arduous battle, one he had compelled to for millennia, under the hands of the Tennō, and now, under the hands of Renji, who he knew was controlled by the brunet. The beast refused to be imprisoned once again.

"I'm afraid that," Aizen ignored the underlying threat the raven threw at him, his eyes narrowing down onto the being that was standing still, the elements didn't disturb his standstill, as if he alone was frozen in time, and Aizen snarled hatefully at the being, "you are not my objective."

"Aizen Sousuke," the Tennō remarked calmly, knowing the other was speaking of him, his voice calm—yet it held power, _dark_ and alien_, _"_you are impudent_."

The brunet, still holding Renji in his embrace, his arms tightened, his stance defensive, even as he hissed, "and you are a false _god_."

* * *

"Assemble all available shinigami!" Soi Fon shouted as she slammed the door to the war room open, a team of her own running down the halls, reporting an invasion that she already knew of.

"Get the lieutenants to defend the area and set a perimeter," Hitsugaya Toshiro exited the room after her, promptly issuing orders through the Hell Butterfly, the other captains already up and ready from within the room.

"I will be going," Ukitake said with determination in his eyes, Kyoraku nodded. They both flash-stepped away from the premises.

"We all will," Komamura Sajin growled, knowing whoever they were going to face were the very people that had betrayed their trust. His trust.

_Wait for me, Tosen_, he thought grimly to himself and he, too, disappeared from the room with a flash along with the rest of the captains. Yamamoto left behind.

His power was not suited for this battle. He would destroy Soul Society.

.

"Who are the intruders?" Matsumoto Rangiku shouted as she and her fellow lieutenants flash-stepped as fast as they could to the Senkaimon, surges of shinigami _reiatsu_ exploding all around her vicinity as they got ready for battle. Shuuhei was beside her, along with Hinamori and the third and fifth seats of the 11th Division, not wanting to miss the action, as Ikkaku said, to which Yumichika wholeheartedly agreed.

"Some Arrancars," Shuuhei said, relaying the message he got from the messenger who delivered the report from Captain Soi Fon, but then he paused, looking at Matsumoto as if contemplating something.

"Along with Kaname Tosen and Ichimaru Gin."

Matsumoto's eyes narrowed. Her lips were set to a grim line and she hastened her steps.

_Gin._

* * *

"They're gone," Ichibe stated solemnly. He returned from the Ascension hall that could take individuals to the Tennō's realm, relaying a message from the healer.

"How is this possible?" Senjumaru swung her arm in anger, as Kirinji stood up from his leaning position on a pillar.

"Aizen Sousuke," was the answer came out of the large man's mouth, "only one I can think of."

The Tennō, along with the Seika and even the Shogo himself was taken from the most secure and hidden location in all the realms. If they were a nation, it could throw their country into a state of chaos immediately.

"We must descend," Ōetsu Nimaiya paced impatiently, his shoulders set in a tense manner that was unbecoming of his usually relaxed persona.

"Our duty is to protect the Soul King," Ichibe shook his head in defeat.

They knew as he did that the Royal Guards' sole duty was to protect and defend the Soul King at all costs. No other objective was more important, and take more priority than that. Even if the Tennō created the Soul King, the being was then self-reliant and even with an incomplete soul, it managed its duties to regulate the flow of souls in all realms. Even if the Tennō himself needed their help... the Soul King's function preceded his own well-being.

The Royal Guards must stay behind.

"They will return," Hikifune sighed, almost as if convincing herself, understanding the truth in Ichibe's words, "have faith in the Seika," she looked at her fellow Royal Guards who could only ground their frustration.

"His champion is there with him," Ichibe added, knowing that they had finalized the blessing to Kurosaki Ichigo when he was tasked to get them to the Tennō. He could only hope that the Tenfuku was enough.

On his side, Ōetsu hummed, deep in thought. He couldn't be sure that their training from before was enough for the young man to peruse his powers better. Even with the Tenfuku, if he couldn't control them because he was still unaware of his origins... he might not be able to fight as well as he should be.

Hikifune frowned in concern, "_and_ the Shogo..."

The Royal Guards grew silent at the reminder. They could only hope that Chaos didn't unleash its fury and wrought destruction upon the realms.

* * *

Ichigo was fighting off the three Espada all at once. His movements were sloppy as he grew more and more impatient. He _needed_ to get Aizen away from Renji. But why was his power not cooperating?

He unleashed two Getsuga Tensho in rapid succession and finishing off with a cross-slash, but the Espada simply moved out of the way. Coyote Starrk fired his cero as a soldier would with a machine gun, while the shinigami was busy evading Barragan's _R__espira_ that destroyed more and more of the forest. Tier came up on top of him with her shark-like blade, firing out several rounds of one of her Resurrección's aquatic ability, _La Gota_, that pierced through the air like shark teeth on Ichigo.

"_Fuck this_!" he barely dodged the attack, overwhelmed by the Espada that could very well be above captain-level in strength, and the three of them were attacking him all at once. Byakuya was still trapped under the Light's influence, his _reiatsu_ could only destroy an inch of air surrounding him, rendering him completely harmless.

Renji could hear Ichigo's shouts and clashes of his blade, he could hear every grunt of pain as he was fighting against the Espada simultaneously. He hated himself that he could do nothing, hated that Byakuya was subjugated against his will with his _own _Light, and hated that he was helpless as he was cradled against the man who made everything that was happening around him possible. The source of his suffering.

"You are beautiful, Renji," Aizen remarked, even with the fighting in front of him, pushing away the strands of red that strayed to the other's face over his ear, "I have never known your glow could be so enchanting."

Renji was alarmed at the revelation.

_He could see the Light?_

"H-how...?" he gasped, still unable to do anything much against the bounds of the Hōgyoku. He tried to twist his head to no avail, prompting Aizen to pet his hair affectionately, as if _consoling him_.

"The Hōgyoku allows part of your Light to be transferred into my soul, as you were bestowing it upon the boy," Sousuke explained aloud, still petting the soft red lock of his precious deity as he looked on towards the Tennō, knowing the being could hear what he said. Reveling in the rage he could see underneath the stoic mien.

Renji was reeling. The Tenfuku allowed this to happen? A Light entered a being that it was not supposed to?

"Such underhanded transference is not permanent," the Tennō spat out on his side, glaring at Aizen through the battlefield as if they were mere child's play, "it will be rejected by your wretched excuse of a soul."

"Still," Sousuke shrugged one shoulder, uncaring of the petty jab as if it didn't matter the slightest what would happen, "it allows me to summon _you _to me."

The mocking gesture was not lost on the growling Tennō. As if he was an _animal_ that could be called upon by his master's will. He would rip the smug smile off the insolent _ant_'s face if only he could. He tightened his fists on his side, dismissing the reproachful voices in his head. He knew he couldn't do anything to the souls, couldn't affect anything in all realms—couldn't intervene with the affairs of mortals. He didn't need them to remind him of that.

But if he could. If only he could just find a leeway from his blasted bounds_, he would tear the wretched fiend by the name of Aizen Sousuke, tearing him apart from the slivers of his broken soul and obliterate him until not even his name was spared. _

Aizen hummed in amusement at the internal conflict he _knew_ was happening inside the Tennō, knew of the rotten soul residing within the heavenly cloak. He couldn't care less if he lost the Light that had been temporarily residing within him. Though he would be missing the stunning vision of Renji in his angelic glory.

It wasn't as if he needed the power.

The Hōgyoku was a manifestation of his desires. He could have all the power he wanted. And he could have all the knowledge he needed.

But he was not stupid enough to confront them in the other realm. The 'Tennō's realm', as the other beings called it. The Royal Guards would be a handful, even for someone like him. He had not achieved his greatest potential yet. The Hōgyoku needed him to prove his worth once more.

In the battlefield, Ichigo was struggling yet managing to somewhat stalemate the three Espada, as they jumped away from each other. Ichigo right in front of a snarling, frozen Byakuya, and the Espada on Aizen's side.

Brandishing his Zangetsu in both hands and ready for another bout, Ichigo snarled at the brunet, "what do you fucking want, Aizen?"

"It is a simple wish," the brunet said offhandedly, nodding his head towards the Tennō who had a dark expression on his face, "to annihilate _that_."

Perhaps they stalled long enough. It was time to execute his next plan.

He hovered his hand on top of Renji's chest, extracting the Hōgyoku from deep within the recesses of his body. The orb glinted lilac, glowing as it touched Aizen's hand, back within its master's grasp, and ready for his every desire.

Ichigo seized the opportunity to swoop Renji from Aizen's distracted form and back to where he was before, supporting Renji's heaving form with his arms.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly, his eyes torn between checking for any bad signs from Renji and watching over Aizen's next move.

"I'm not a fucking damsel," Renji growled, slapping his concerned friend's hands away from his shoulders, standing up straight to show that he indeed, was 'okay'. He knew he was being unnecessarily harsh to his friend who was just trying to help him, but he couldn't suppress the frustration.

He stumbled towards Byakuya and apologetically released him from the bounds his Light had created without his consent. The raven let out an animalistic growl as he was released, ready to pounce Aizen, if not for Renji's hand on his cheek. His growls quieted down and he leaned against Renji in a silent gesture of comfort. The redhead sighed, his breath was shuddering as he tried his best to control his anger.

He was fucking pissed that he got manipulated again. That he got played without his knowledge again. And he was furious that it was done by the very same man, the one he used to admire for his sense of justice as he lived his human life, as he saved the thieving boy from his own brother's wrath for stealing food scraps for his sick mother. The man who loved to tease Renji for how bad he was at the game of chess.

The man that Renji was ready to give his Light to.

Aizen watched in silent jealousy as Renji was taken away from his arms. No matter.

He felt himself surrounded by the Hōgyoku's light and he transformed, his soul fusing with the orb even more. His spine felt as if it was split open, white butterfly wings protruded from his shoulder blades and his chest gaped open like a Hollow's hole, the Hōgyoku nestled in the middle of it. A third eye, the very same, monster-like lavender eyes with dark sclerae, grew in the middle of his forehead. All three of the lavender orbs zoomed past Ichigo, Renji, and past the growling form of Byakuya, into the dark ones of the Tennō's.

"If you wanna get to him," Ichigo warned, noticing the intention, as he wielded Zangetsu tightly in his hands, " you go through me."

Byakuya and Renji readied themselves, finally able to take part in the battle themselves.

"So it would seem," Aizen sneered in a mocking display, "_blessed champion_." He had no intention of pulling back, but he also had no intention to fight Renji. He gestured for his Espada to keep the two other beings busy for him, knowing they would be done in easily enough by the combined forces of Kuchiki Byakuya's Chaos and Renji's own prowess.

Letting out a growl of his own, his fused Hollow taunting him to get back at the mocking enemy, Ichigo attacked. He was quick to charge Aizen with his barrages of attacks, unleashing bursts, and slashes of Getsuga Tensho that would prove lethal if he was fighting against any ordinary shinigami.

Meanwhile, the three Espada struggled once more under the overwhelming power of Byakuya's Chaos. Senbonzakura swirling about and destroying everything within sight. He didn't notice that Coyote Starrk deactivated his Resurrección in favor of blasting off formless cero shots, Lilynette nowhere to be found.

Renji activated his Bankai as Starrk's Fracción showed up behind Byakuya, foolishly trying a sneak attack on the enraged raven who was too busy with the enemies in front of him that he didn't see the lone hollow's impending shot to his heart.

"Captain!" he yelled, blocking off Lilynette's cero with Zabimaru's own energy blast, knocking the Arrancar back towards the tree lines.

Byakuya noticed this and looked at Renji. He nodded his thanks. With Zabimaru coiled around him threateningly, Renji charged ahead and joined the battlefield.

The Tennō stood on to watch.

* * *

"Don't you see, _ryoka_ boy," Aizen snarled as he easily blocked Ichigo's Getsuga, absorbing the raw power into him, "the false god is the one who has hurt Renji."

"And how the fuck do you know that?" Ichigo shouted, frustration clear as he tried and failed to land a blow on the evasive brunet. He was on the constant offensive but Aizen blocked and dodged everything without breaking a sweat. And while he knew of Aizen's past with Renji as he was a mere human, it was decidedly odd to hear that the man actually had some semblance of care for the redhead in his lunacy.

"But I do," he smirked, drawing Ichigo close with a hand gripping one of Zangetsu's blades, the blade failing to cut him even with his tight grip, looking right into Ichigo's eyes until he could see himself in the whites of his pupils, "the Hōgyoku showed me _everything_."

"Even his exquisite figure as Kuchiki Byakuya took him," he purred, letting go of the black blade and jumped back before Ichigo could land another attack, "don't you wish it was you who comforted him? I do."

"You sick bastard!" the orange-haired shinigami roared, charging recklessly into Aizen's attacking range. He was disgusted by the lewd words that came out of Aizen's mouth. Disgusted that the man breached Renji's privacy and _watched_ him in his most vulnerable moments.

He was disgusted with himself because what Aizen said had hit the mark.

"All his life, he's been used by people," he snarled roughly, his voice raw and broken as he charged relentlessly, "by his fucking nut-ass of a 'Father', by _fucking _Soul Society," he thrust one blade to Aizen's abdomen while the other swooped to slash against his side. The brunet simply used flash-step to get away, his technique seemed superior than that of Ichigo's flurry of movements.

"And now by _you_!" he let out a war cry and slammed both Zangetsu down for a ground-leveling Getsuga.

Aizen simply side-stepped the attack, his mouth curled in distaste at what the _ryoka_ was suggesting.

"If you think a second more, that what I have been striving for," he blitzed right in front of Ichigo, wrapping his hand around his neck and strangled the life out of the thrashing shinigami, "is not in the interest of Renji's _happiness_," he growled into the other's ear, and throwing the other shinigami far into the trees, destroying dozens in the process.

"You are gravely mistaken, And you are blinded by the rotten _god_," he spat the word as if it was acid burning through his tongue, "who had done nothing but for his own."

Ichigo grunted as he hit the last tree that took impact in the form of a deep indentation, splinters flying everywhere. He groaned, feeling his broken bones mending themselves, righting his dislocated shoulder. The blood that ran on the backside of his head stopped within seconds, even as he jumped right back in front of Aizen in a split second. His eyes changing to a strange glint of golden.

He could hear what Aizen was saying, his senses enhanced tenfold, and he could feel the fighting coming to a close on Renji and Byakuya's side.

"_Enough talking_."

* * *

Seireitei had seen better days. The fighting had extended beyond the Senkaimon, it seemed, worse than the captains had tried to prevent. Several blocks of buildings were in ruins, debris fell everywhere and blood was spilled. It was only good that most of the buildings were warehouses and Gotei 13 properties instead of the residential areas belonging to the nobilities.

The Arrancars had managed to slip past the perimeter surrounding the Senkaimon, while Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname were busy engaging in the fight with their former comrades. Officers were dispatched to take care of the stragglers, most of the lieutenants and captains in pursuit or engaging in fights with the Arrancars, while the rest of the high ranking officers stayed behind in the Senkaimon area.

"Captain! Captain Aizen!" Hinamori Momo screeched, struggling under the strength of her two friends who were trying their best to not hurt her as they tried to keep her still. Kira Izuru and Hisagi Shuuhei grunted at the force of her adrenaline-backed struggles as she strived to enter the Senkaimon without a proper Hell Butterfly to guide her.

When she heard of the arrival of Aizen's underlings, she had immediately relapsed into her frenzied state. It was fortunate that the 10th Division officers were there to handle Ichimaru Gin and several Arrancars in the area, while Tosen Kaname was being chased away into some nondescript corner of Seireitei by his former friend—Komamura Sajin.

"Poor girl," Ichimaru Gin commented, looking distracted from his current opponent. He knew that he need not be on guard with her. Not with their relationship.

"Gin," Matsumoto Rangiku pleaded, ignoring his commentary, "why are we doing this?"

Matsumoto was the first to point her sword at Ichimaru the first time she arrived at the scene, her posture screaming 'stay out of this, he's mine', and everyone else left her to her own devices. She hesitated to fight him, she didn't want to, at all. She hoped that she could talk some sense into him. Make him see to her reasons—to come back to her.

He turned to face her, his dearest friend who he knew held his heart, his face schooled to an uncharacteristic frown. "Rangiku," he uttered the name softly, the first time in a very long while, " there is no other way."

"He's not in this for our interests!" but she was persistent, he didn't flinch as she grabbed his shoulders and took his face in her hands. They weren't even trying to fight. His own hand hovered over hers, and clasped it tight within his. He was trembling but he couldn't bring himself to care. He missed this. How long had it been since she last touched him, looked at him with that anguish in her eyes? He swore to protect her, yet he was causing her misery.

"He wants to destroy everything," she whispered weakly, even with the chaos surrounding them, the heat of his hand against her all she could feel, "why... why would you—"

The silver-haired shinigami looked at her with eyes akin to sadness, taking her hands away from him. "You don't know him as I do."

Rangiku gritted her teeth at the answer, her hands tensed around Haineko even as her shoulder drooped. There was no getting to him. Gin clenched his fist around Shinsō. He knew whatever mercy and affection she had left for him were being forcefully stomped to the ground and thrown out of her reach. She wouldn't let him play with her heart anymore. Even as she loved him, even as she wished for him to run away, and herself to run alongside him, she had a duty as the Lieutenant of the 10th Division of the Gotei 13.

"Don't get distracted, Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya Toshiro shouted somewhere behind his lieutenant, fighting his own battle against a couple of Arrancars who managed to corner him. He was torn between his lieutenant's hesitance and Hinamori's frenzied shouting for the man who had hurt her numerous times, yet he was unable to help either of them.

"Damn it!" he swore, unleashing Hyorinmaru's Bankai form. He prayed for a quick battle, before two of the people who—no matter how he would deny it—he held close to his heart were broken before he managed to reach them.

* * *

"Kisuke, you sure this'll work?" Shihouin Yoruichi inquired to the blond kneeling several feet before her, standing before the looming _senkaimon_ on his underground training grounds alongside his right-hand man, Tsukabishi Tessai.

"Mostly," the blond man mumbled, making last-minute adjustment to the portal that made sure the _dangai_ they would be accessing was a direct route to their destination—Kyoto.

"Wha-at?" the cat-woman exclaimed in disbelief. They had come this far into the plan and only then did the 'hat-and-clogs bastard'—as Ichigo would _affectionately_ call him sometimes—voiced his doubts?

"I don't know if his genetic makeup altered after fusing, if what the Gotei 13 reported was true," Kisuke turned to the agitated woman, scratching his chin sheepishly.

"Shit," Yoruichi grumbled, unclasping her folded arms, nodding towards the _senkaimon, _"we better pick up the pace."

Standing up from his position and nodding at Tessai, they activated the portal, dark tendrils emerged from the center and spread across the entirety of the pillars until everything within the portal was enshrouded in the darkness, and white light glowed in the middle of it, its wisps encroaching the surrounding darkness.

After a brief farewell with Tessai, entrusting the shop and their freeloaders in his capable hands, both Kisuke and Yoruichi jumped into the portal and into the _dangai_.

The travel towards the other end of the dark precipice was silent, the duo focused on their own thoughts and what was waiting for them on the other side. Within minutes they reached the end of the dark tunnel, and jumped out from the opened portal that led them to a lush forest. The sound pollution coming from the city was almost abysmal, meaning they were further away from the edge of town. Good.

"Remarkable," the blond man whispered, feeling the subtle, yet strange thrum of foreign energy washing past him. They were in the right place.

"There's fucking nothing here," Yoruichi complained, looking around the forest, seeing nothing but trees and a strange feeling in her core, "but I feel a strange energy."

"We're on the edge of the seal," Kisuke concluded, walking a few steps around the immediate vicinity to test the significance of the foreign energy—something that he knew was either coming from Abarai Renji, or another entity possessing similarly sourced energy—to see if they were indeed where he thought they were.

"How do you know?"

He shrugged with a crooked smile, "just a hunch."

He knew from the report that Kurotsuchi Mayuri begrudgingly gave him at the command of Captain-Commander Yamamoto himself, that at least they were in the right location.

"_It's a disgrace to ask for your '_assistance_'," the ink-faced man grumbled to himself for the third time in the past twenty-minutes, watching as the man who he proclaimed to be below his intelligence worked on the data he had gathered. It was bad enough that he was sent alone to the blond man's pathetic little 'shop'. _

"_Yes, yes," Kisuke waved his hand offhandedly, only working to disgruntle Kurotsuchi even more. When he was about to insult the blond, he tapped his palm against the screen on the large desk before him. _

"_Ah. I got it," the blond perked, urging the clown-like captain to come and see to his findings, much to the other's annoyance. _

"_If I remember correctly, this area near the edge of the city was bombed in the 1590s during the Warring States after Nobunaga's men issued a supposedly 'warning fire' to the crippled Hōjo clan. Plants may grow back, but the pattern should not be in line with the rest of the forest," he extrapolated, pointing at the forest that Kurotsuchi's analyzer picked up before, "it wouldn't have been as, well, 'lush', so to speak."_

"_I'm assuming the seal's around this immediate perimeter," he continued circling an area within the forest line with his finger in a vague manner, "but we'll have to go in person to know for sure."_

_Kurotsuchi gritted his teeth and turned away, "well get on it, then. I have more pressing matters to attend to."_

After the Twelfth Division captain had left, Kisuke asked the permission of the Captain-Commander—through his soul pager—to go to the disclosed location with Yoruichi, seeing that they would know the Material World better and he had the necessary equipment to do so. He trusted that Soul Society was in the more than capable hands of the captains and lieutenants to handle the happenings with Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname.

"Still can't believe the two of them be—_shit!_" Yoruichi cursed, jumping out of the way as the ground shook strongly and cracked under her feet.

A strong earthquake reached where they stood, toppling several trees, the cracked ground growing into a gaping maw until it stopped several feet behind them. The area where the crack started was oddly misshapen, as if the opening was cut midway. He was right, after all. It was the edge of the seal. It meant that whatever happened came from within.

The battle had already started. That confirmed that the Seika—or whoever held that strange energy—was indeed inside the seal, and the Soul King's realm was open to let them down to the Material World. And into Aizen's clutches. It was almost too convenient, he decided, with how Aizen was distracting Gotei 13 with his followers as he remained behind.

Because he already had what he was looking for, and he didn't want them to get in his way.

_Shit_.

"Better alert Soul Society," he nodded to the dark-skinned woman, hurriedly opening up a sealed box to reveal short locks of brown hair belonging to a certain traitor, wrapped up in a long paper scrawled with odd scripts.

Yoruichi nodded, already opening her soul pager. "On it."

They got a seal to open.

* * *

The Espada were torn to shreds under Byakuya's hands. Senbonzakura still whirling frantically around him, a tornado of deathly petals, in his hand the zanpakuto was glowing, red dripped down its blade and seeping into the ground.

Tier Harribel could barely twitch a finger. She let out a whimper of pain, her blurred vision focusing on the state of her decapitated left arm. Her blood oozed out of the various wounds on her body, her Hollow mask—or what was left of it—barely concealed her ragged breathing—and her scarlet blood dribbled down her lips and dripped to the hard, burnt ground steadily. She couldn't feel her legs, but she knew she lost one of them, severed jaggedly from the kneecap. She could see it laying several feet away from her.

Barragan Louisenbairn was dead. The shinigami's zanpakuto surrounded him with its impenetrable wall of glowing petal-like blades, once again immune to his powers—Byakuya was not an ordinary 'living being', the embodiment of Chaos that he was. Not a trace of the Segunda Espada was left, as he was eaten inside out by his own _Respira_, having nowhere else to go but _inside_. In his last moments—forced to deactivate his Resurrección but it was _too late—_as every single organ in his body was slowly rotting, his eyes bulging before they, too, dissipated along with the rest of his skull. The only sound he could let out before he was completely absorbed was a pitiful whine of a dying animal.

And Coyote Starrk... lost Lilynette.

He didn't even bother to get up from where he lied. His limbs were intact, but he couldn't find himself moving. Lilynette's body was cold against him, her one eye glazed in hollow death. It was only moments later that she, too, dissipated, purified by the blade of Byakuya's zanpakuto.

Aizen Sousuke had a dark look in his eyes. He stood still, watching as his minions were defeated in front of him. Not a shred of pity or sadness crossed his face, yet disgust amplified with the cold heartlessness of his lavender orbs, his blackened sclerae only intensified the feeling that he was a _monster_.

"You're done, Aizen," Ichigo spat out, swinging his swords sharply in the air as if in warning. He had been stalemating against the other, growing weary as the other shinigami seemed to only get stronger the more they fight. He thought that with Renji's blessing the man wouldn't be a problem. Maybe it was his so-called 'boundless' potential that was failing him. He had gotten away with a few scraps that rapidly healed with the rejuvenating quality of his _reiatsu_.

Even with Renji drawing out his Bankai, and Byakuya finishing off the Espada that were hindering their battle with Aizen, the man seemed unmoved. As if he was still hiding something.

"Am I?" he chuckled darkly, feeling the dark energy from the Hōgyoku enveloping him once more. He was disappointed with the weakness of his minions. But he had known from the start that they were nothing but a distraction, just enough for him to unleash the Hōgyoku's full potential, to grant him his unlimited power against the being that seemed to be watching from the sidelines. He knew the false god was waiting for him to make his move.

And so he let his soul be consumed by the orb, the Hōgyoku enveloped him in its dark light, much like the Seika granting his Light to his champion. He felt Something protruding from his shoulder blades, warping his wings—white, leathery, and disembodied _mouths_—and his skull as if torn into two, making way for a terrifying _black_ creature, teeth gaping wide, not unlike a Hollow. Two sets of Hollow holes opened down his abdomen, complementing the topmost part that held the Hōgyoku within.

Despite his ire in turning into a creature that he so despised, he could feel the power surging through him, dark, relentless, and destructive. The creature roared, energy blasts throughout the area and destroying trees—the old Japanese mansion was thoroughly decimated.

Horror grew in the pit of his stomach, as Ichigo watched the monster transformed before his very eyes. His grip on Zangetsu tightened in both his hands, tremor coursing through him even though he fought against it. This was the monster that he needed to defeat.

If he couldn't win against Aizen... or whatever he had become, he was not worthy of facing whatever Evil he was blessed for with Renji's Light.

He must not fail the Seika.

"Sousuke," the redhead whispered to himself, finding no strength in him to speak louder. He rued what had become of his once-beloved friend, in his search for power, for revenge. For destruction. He leaned his weight against Zabimaru, the blade sunk just a tiny bit more to the ground, and he fell to his knees.

He had failed Sousuke again. Letting him destroy himself before his very eyes. He could feel the sting of tears that threatened to fall. Harshly rubbing the back of his hand against his eyes, he stood up shakily. It was no time to be a crybaby.

"Sousuke," he called loudly, slowly approaching the growling creature that was thrumming in anticipation of an attack. Ichigo warned him to get back but he ignored the other.

The creature turned its head to the approaching Seika, and for a split-second, he could swear he saw the hollow eyes soften, its stance just a bit more relaxed, and its head leaned forward to him. The moment passed like lightning, the low rumbles returned and its back hunched.

It reminded Renji of Byakuya. When he was nothing but a mindless beast. But he knew Sousuke was aware, He knew the other still retained his thoughts. His soul.

"Please," he begged, praying that his Sousuke was somewhere in there, listening to him, waiting for Renji to come and save him from his own darkness, "we can stop this."

"_**Renji**_," the creature let out, its voice was that of Sousuke, but it was not. It was alien, and cold, and yet...

"_**I only wish for one thing**_," it continued, and reflexively taking a defensive stance as it growled at the orange-haired shinigami who leaped and shouted at Renji to get away, "move, Renji!"

He unleashed a full-powered Getsuga Tensho, dark waves of _reiatsu_, exploded from the tip of his blades, aiming right for the creature that was once Aizen Sousuke. The energy decimated a large portion of the forest, the impact was tremendous that miles away in the city, the people panicked for the earthquake it caused.

Jumping back, the substitute shinigami fixed his eyes to where Aizen stood before, expecting the creature to be at the very least staggered and suffered injuries. It was the strongest he could get without actually destroying the city like a nuclear warhead.

But no.

Aizen came out entirely unscathed. The Hollow-like creature merely stood up tall, brushing its flowing white robes and gave him a spine-chilling grin on its blackened face.

Byakuya was vibrating where he stood, the air and gravity condensed around him as dark tendrils seeped out of his very person. He could feel Chaos coursing tumultuously through his veins, the dark energy concentrated inside his core. It was calm as death, underlying the massive energy crashing within like an endless ocean, waiting to explode and destroy everything in its place.

Senbonzakura thrummed in agitation, the spirit's core sucked into the Chaotic vortex, and the sword crumbled into dark, ashen pieces that suddenly glowed dark red, as vermillion, as _blood_—

And in his hand appeared a large, black bladed _ōdachi_, nearly the length of his body, the hilt was vermillion in its intricacy, and two, long scarlet ribbons flowed from the end.

_The physical manifestation of the Shōken. _

_Byakuya's Chaos._

"Are you sure you want to unleash your Chaos here?" Aizen-Hollow taunted in a gravelly voice, eyeing the sword that seemed to absorb all light sources, dimming the surrounding area into night with its darkness. Power surged from the blade, weighing down everything in the vicinity as of gravity doubled its force. It was a hell of a morning for the city of Kyoto.

"Byakuya!" Renji called in warning, shaking his head vehemently at the raven's dark look—his eyes were pitch black.

It was the Material World. If he was to unleash the full power of the Shōken, of his Chaos...

They would destroy everything.

The Tennō stood on as he watched the mortals interacted with each other. Watched on as his Light fought _his_ battles for him, and the disagreeable Chaos wreaking havoc to _his _enemy. A grim satisfaction settled in his core, even as the voices in his head screamed at him.

And then the seal broke.

From beyond the edge of the seal, stood a group of people that Aizen had been waiting for. A white robe billowed with the wind, Japanese number 'one' on the back of its wearer.

"Aizen Sousuke."

* * *

"_We've come all this way, Aizen-san," Ichimaru sighed, ruffling his silver hair with his hand, thumping the back of his head against one of the wooden beams that supported the Japanese mansion's structure. _

"_We have," Aizen smiled, even as he looked on to the majestic sunset across the horizon, the fiery colors reminding him of his goal, "I am thankful for your support, Gin. Kaname."_

_Ichimaru could never understand the inner workings of this man's mind. First, he wanted to take down the Soul King with the Hōgyoku. He wanted to bring the deities down to the Material World, towards the sealed location they were in, so that Soul Society could never know of the ensuing battle._

_But then he let out a signaling reiatsu that warned Soul Society of their location. Knowing that Kurotsuchi Mayuri would be able to detect it. Knowing that Urahara Kisuke would be able to decipher the exact location, and knowing they could very well be able to break the seal. _

_And then he decided to split the team. With Tosen and Ichimaru leading a group of Arrancar to Soul Society, leaving him alone with is Espada under the guise of 'distracting the Gotei 13 from his own confrontation'. _

_Gin kept the frown on his face. Because what mattered to him, if they were to be separated in the deciding battle, then his initial plan—the one that he let brewing over for longer than he would like—couldn't very well be executed. _

"_I know of your intention, Gin," Aizen turned his head to look at the surprised shinigami, "you wish to take the Hōgyoku and kill me." Tosen stood up in alarm. _

_Ichimaru froze. He knew of... the plan? All along—_

_The brunet let out a chuckle, as if he didn't just unveil Ichimaru's greatest goal. The only reason he followed Aizen as he was. _

_But the sound wasn't cruel. It wasn't harsh, and condescending. it didn't send a chilling cold down his spine as Aizen gave him a killing blow that was his ultimate demise. _

_Instead, it was warm. Understanding. Melancholic. _

"_I assure you, I never intended to dispose of you," Aizen continued, as if he didn't say what he said, knew what he knew, "this has always been my end game plan."_

"_This is my battle," Aizen said decisively, standing up. Tosen and Ichimaru frowned, looking up at the man who had taken them under his wing, the man they had sworn to follow, despite differing ideals and intents. _

"_So when the time comes," he said to them both, his tone deep and serious. This would be his offer to them. A second chance for redemption._

"When they have you surrounded," the brunet let out softly, "and you know they will,"

.

"_Surrender!" the Gotei 13 shouted down at them, captains and lieutenants had them cornered from all sides, leaving them no room to escape. The remaining Arrancars had subsequently been dealt with._

"_You have nowhere to go, Ichimaru Gin!" Captain Komamura roared with his beastly voice, his zanpakuto high in the air even as he was bleeding profusely from his recent bout with his former friend, "Tosen Kaname!"_

_._

"Raise your hands..."

.

_Ichimaru slowly raised his hands, looking at Tosen, knowing the blind man could feel him, could feel his reiatsu calming down, giving in. Tosen nodded._

_._

"Denounce my name..."

.

_Raising his voice, Ichimaru shouted aloud so that all of the Gotei 13 in the area could hear him. "We are denouncing our allegiance to Aizen Sousuke!"_

"_Do not attack," he continued, his arms high even as his head was bowed, smiling to himself in relief, "we will cooperate."_

"_We're taking you in," Captain Soi Fon growled, "as prisoners."_

"_Gin..." Matsumoto whispered as she watched him along with Tosen being escorted away by her fellow lieutenants, their arms bound behind their back, and their zanpakuto taken away from their slack arms. _

_Ichimaru looked at her with a small smile, "it's gonna be all right, Rangiku." _It's finally going to be all right, _he thought._

_._

_They were brought before the Captain Commander. His imposing presence and heavy reiatsu pushing them to the ground. _

_Ichimaru and Tosen knew it was time._

"_We will tell you everything we know about Aizen Sousuke's plans."_

.

"...betray me."

.

* * *

-_ to be continued -_

* * *

**Tenno Trivia #5**

He doesn't have a name.

* * *

There's a reason why it took me two weeks to write this chapter. You just witnessed it. lol. Sorry for the crappy-ass fight scenes? And I dunno if Ichigo's 'upgrade' is showing much here, but like, he fought all three Espada and survived barely scathed so that's a good feat? Haha xp

Okay, so I hope Aizen's insanity shows through okay? I want to make him appear composed, always in control, but there's always this something... off, and inherently bad about him? While also something almost... sweet? LOL I luv him okej sue me.


	26. Chapter 26 - Full Circle Part 1

Chapter 26 – Full Circle Part 1

* * *

_It was a tense sort of quiet in the Captain-Commander's office, the atmosphere dank and heavy with reigned down anger and frustration. _

_The two prisoners of war were held down by a _kido_ seal that prevented them from moving and using their _reiryoku, _with __four guards stood watch beside and behind them. Within the vast room, the Captain-Commander stood along with the 8__th__ and 13th Division captains, scrutinizing the captives. His trusted right-hand and Lieutenant Sasakibe Chojiro was nowhere to be seen. _

"_Is that all that you know?" Yamamoto inquired, his voice gruff and threatening as his blistering _reiatsu_ flared throughout the room, "or are you still loyal to him?"_

"_It may be hard to trust us right now, Captain-Commander Yamamoto," Ichimaru Gin furrowed his brows, his superficial calm belying the nerves that he felt as he struggled to keep himself from trembling under the tremendous power, "but it was all that he shared with us."_

_Kyoraku Shunsui scratched his scruffy chin in contemplation. _

"_So this being, this... Tennō. He created the Soul King? And the Seika?" _

"_From what he told us, yes," Ichimaru surmised, he could hear Tosen gritting his teeth besides him, but chose to not heed the blind man's frustration, "the Hōgyoku that was implanted in the Seika made it possible for Aizen to see everything that he saw, and perhaps even beyond that... the Seika was his conduit."_

"_Why does he want to kill the Tennō?"_

_Ichimaru frowned, remembering Aizen's words from the evening before. "He didn't say... only that it was _his_ battle."_

_The room fell into a pregnant silence. _

"_Tosen Kaname," Yamamoto turned towards the glowering shinigami, "you have been loyal to him. Is there anything you wish to say?"_

_Tosen raised his bowed head, kneeling up straight under his restraints._

"_He gave us a second chance. He knew that whatever would happen would be for our demise, and he is merciful to spare us," he spoke with conviction, his voice gradually turned louder with every each words. He inclined his head, as if gesturing to his fellow prisoner, his snarling mouth apparent. _

"_I will forever be loyal to Aizen Sousuke."_

_The three captains tensed at the proclamation. Aizen made them betray him. Aizen made them tell on his plans._

_Yamamoto narrowed his eyes. Whatever words were spoken by Ichimaru now held little to no value to him. For all they knew, it was all a part of Aizen's elaborate plan._

_Like it always was. Either that, or the mastermind was confident enough in his success that it didn't matter if the Gotei 13 knew of his entire plan or not. Whichever it was, the fate of the two prisoners now depend on Aizen Sousuke's next moves, whether Ichimaru was telling the truth about his objectives and plans, or it was all a ruse. _

_Ichimaru Gin bowed his head, as if making himself small, not wanting to be associated with Tosen's foolish declaration of loyalty. The chance for them to avoid execution was getting slimmer, he could see the distrust in Yamamoto's eyes coming back full force. Fortunately for him, a hell butterfly entered the room before Tosen managed to say anything more damaging to their survival, its wings flapping maddeningly as if in urgency. _

"We've found the seal and working on opening it right now," _the message said, the voice of Shihouin Yoruichi. _

"_I will go on my own," Yamamoto declared after the initial announcement, already making his way out of the room and unheeding of the two prisoners watching his back—one with obvious contempt. The Gotei 13 would need to stand guard against the prisoners, in the probable case that Ichimaru was fooling them like the sly fox he was._

_But before he made it out of the exit, Lieutenant Sasakibe Chojiro barged into the room suddenly, profusely apologizing as a petite shinigami made her way inside with an air of determination. _

"_Yamamoto-dono, forgive me but she couldn't be—"_

"_Captain-Commander," Kuchiki Rukia called from where she stood, squaring her shoulders, "I will come with you."_

_The commander scrutinized the young Kuchiki, who in turn didn't even flinch as she glared back at him. The nerves. She must have had intercepted the hell butterfly before it managed to get to Yamamoto. As expected from the Kuchiki's, they proved to be quite the cunning, crafty lot. _

"_Perhaps you can be of use," Yamamoto relented._

* * *

As the seal was broken off, the newcomers came face to face with a Hollow-like creature that once was known as Aizen Sousuke. The atmosphere was too thick to bear as tense, dangerous _reiatsu_ lashed about from all opposing forces. The stormy sky was yet to bear heavy rains, but the thunders rolled loudly in warning of the catastrophe to come.

"It is you against all of us, Aizen," Shihouin Yoruichi exclaimed, a dangerous glint in her eyes, "you won't stand a chance."

Her words held strength, but even she felt the nerves clawing down her gut. It was not simply Aizen Sousuke they needed to worry about, she thought, as she glanced behind the abomination to see the source of the alien energy that she felt before, coming from the nobleman who she once mentored as a youth. _What happened to you, Byakuya-bo?_

Urahara Kisuke sneaked a glimpse at where the woman was looking in worry, holding the same thoughts. It seemed that they had their work cut out for them.

"_**I have transcended **__**beyond your pathetic comprehension,**_" the creature known as Aizen Sousuke growled out mockingly.

Yamamoto Genryuusai let out a growl of his own, "we shall see."

Rukia could feel dread creeping down her spine even as she struggled to stand straight in the presence of all-powerful beings, her own _reiatsu_ barely pushing off the energy that seemed to be pushing her flat to the ground. She knew if she was any of the other shinigami, she would be. She tried to keep a menacing look in her face, even as horror encompassed her heart at the wretched creature Aizen Sousuke had become, but her composure was thrown out of her grasp when she saw_—_

"Nii-sama!" Rukia shouted, dashing towards where Renji was seemingly trying to coax her brother from a stupor. She hesitated as she got closer, dark energy filled the area around the older raven's body, the heavy force of gravity seemed to increase tenfold the more she got closer, and she noticed that there was something entirely odd about her adoptive brother. Something not entirely... human.

"Rukia, don't get too close!" Ichigo suddenly appeared behind her and grabbed her smaller body as he jumped backward several steps to avoid a sudden lashing of dark energy.

Rukia was stupefied at what she was witnessing. The threat of Aizen seemed nonexistent as she watched the blackened aura around Byakuya grew bigger. She could see Renji was struggling to take a hold of the other male—and she noticed that he, too, had become somewhat estranged in his absence for the past several months. The redhead noticed her arrival but he was unable to do more than a nod as if he was struggling to hold something back. Something that came from the older raven.

"Renji," she whispered in worry, finally turning her head to look at her friend who was still shielding her body from the massive energy that Byakuya was unleashing, "Ichigo... you look different," she trailed off.

Rukia could see that Ichigo—and Renji, and her Nii-sama—was not the same person that she knew. At least, not entirely. She could feel a larger, stronger _reiatsu_ that the substitute shinigami was exuding, wrapping around her own protectively in a warm, gentle cocoon, unlike his usually jagged one, due to the lack of control of his energy. His appearance changed, as well. Zangetsu was nowhere to be seen, in place of two strange looking black swords held firmly in one hand as the other held Rukia close to his body. An odd flush took over her complexion, she could feel her skin heated in inappropriate embarrassment at her thoughts as she took in the _agreeable_ changes Ichigo had.

"We'll explain later," Ichigo shook his head, unaware of Rukia's thoughts, "for now, we need to stay back."

"What happened to my brother?" the petite raven pressed, struggling out of Ichigo's hold.

The older Kuchiki was hunched over, his form was quivering but not in fear, not in weakness—it was as if his entire presence was vibrating—sounds that she would never in her life associated to the elegant man escaped his lips; dangerous that he was, yes, but never... animalistic. Wild.

"...only Renji knows."

_That changed too_, she thought to herself, uncomprehending of the strange, sorrowful tone that her friend held. What happened to them in the time they were away?

* * *

"Byakuya," Renji called firmly, holding the other's clammy, pale cheek in his hand, "Byakuya, not here," he pleaded, hoping the other would see his eyes. Would recognize Renji, instead of the blank look of pure predatorial hypnosis. Dark slivers of Chaos lashed and whipped about the raven, slashing across the air and the ground as if it was physically manifested. A stray tendril slashed across Renji's body, but it was duly neutralized by the Light he was constantly exuding. Just barely.

_He's losing his grip_, Renji thought in worry. He tried using his Light to enter into the other's Chaos, subduing from the inside, but the strong barrier of the dark energy absorbed his Light into nothingness. The large, black _ōdachi_—the _Shōken_, morphed into a weapon of Chaos—was only subdued because Renji's hand gripped at Byakuya's wrist that continually flexed around the sword, Light seeping into the raven's wrist and slackened its hold, seeping into the blade to tame it down, at least for the time being. He could only dream of getting the weapon out of the other's tight grip.

"Not here," he let out from gritted teeth, channeling more of his Light into the other's core. He had never exerted so much force in using his power, the strain in his core was only barely there—but it would be a matter of time. Was it possible for the Light to be completely absorbed and disappear from his core and Chaos would take over?

"**Ren... ji**," a rumbling sound of his voice was heard escaping the raven. The redhead searched the other's blackened eyes. Byakuya was still there, somewhere. He was lost within the Chaos but he was calling out for Renji. Maybe there was something still to be done.

"There will be too much risk if we stay down here," the redhead whispered to the raven, even though it might fall upon deaf ears. He took a hold of the raven's body who lashed out against him, Chaotic energy clashed against his Light. It was only a matter of time before the Light failed and Chaos would manage to hurt him. He grunted as a gush of dark energy repelled against his body, but he was steadfast. He wounded his arms around the raven's torso, forcing out more of his energy against the raven's own and took off to the sky.

Ichigo, witnessing Renji's departure with the dark aura of energy that was once Kuchiki Byakuya, moved to follow.

"I'm going too," Rukia set her tone firmly, her eyes sharp in determination. She would not be useless.

* * *

The three of them were walking down a quiet street on their way back from school. The gloomy dark sky didn't help their sour mood at having been left behind by a certain shinigami friend of theirs.

"I don't know why," Inoue Orihimi started, stopping in the middle of the street. Her two friends stopped their walk and turned to face her in question.

"The air feels suffocating," she finished quietly, frowning to herself.

"Same here," Yasutora Sado, or as Ichigo would lovingly call him 'Chad', mumbled as he flexed the fingers of his right hand.

Orihime perked, looking at the two boys. "You think...?" _maybe it's Kurosaki-kun?_ she wondered, leaving the last part unsaid.

"I don't know," Uryuu shook his head, pushing his glasses up in a force of habit, "this doesn't feel like Kurosaki at all."

The girl deflated at that. He was right, of course. She was very familiar with the sensation of his _reiatsu _by now. It always gave her a sense of warmth and security. She felt her skin heat up. It sounded cheesy, even in her own thoughts, but it was true. Even when Kurosaki-kun's _reiatsu_ exploded because he couldn't control it well just yet, it never felt terrifying.

This energy she was feeling, though, was.

She sighed out loud.

"Urahara-san is gone too..."

They visited the shop but Tessai told them that his boss was away. He advised them to not do anything rash and to simply wait for Ichigo to return, but it had been over a month without any new information, other than that he was off on a 'mission'. They knew better than that, and they knew Urahara's sudden absence had something to do with it.

Something to do with Aizen Sousuke.

She shuddered. It had not been long since her capture, after all. Her mind drifted to the thoughts of Ulquiorra Schiffer and his fate. It was only done, obviously, because she would be dead if Kurosaki-kun didn't come and save her. But she had thought that the stoic Espada had some good in him... that she could perhaps change him.

Silly girl.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, at the front of Urahara's shop, Ururu absently watched the dark clouds looming above.

"Ururu, you idiot," Ginta slapped her lightly on the shoulder, "get inside!"

"Ginta-kun," she faced him, her face was gloomy and her teeth were gnawing her already bitten lip, "I'm worried."

The redheaded boy faltered at that, not knowing what to say to placate her. Because he, too, was worried. The atmosphere was thick and it felt as if he was being constantly pushed to the ground. He knew that whatever that their employer and his cat friend was doing, it was in a city far, _far _away from Karakura. But they could feel the impact hundreds of miles away. It was frightening to imagine what would happen to be in the epicenter.

Tessai patted the two young children with his large hands, ruffling their hair.

"Don't worry you two," he assured, kneeling down to look at them in the eye, "they'll be fine."

_They better be_.

* * *

The Hollow-like monster was in the middle of the torched ground, engaged in a battle of wit against the three powerful shinigami. The Tennō stood on and watched the scene disinterestedly. He was more concerned about Renji who took off with his 'friends' to the darkening sky, a frown settled on his brows.

"Amusing, isn't it?" a deep voice echoed through the Tennō's ears. His eyes darkened, narrowed to slits.

"Aizen," the being acknowledged lowly, even as he stood in silence. The man before him was vastly different from the monstrous creature he was seeing on the battlefield. His brown locks were short, reminisce of his past time as a Gotei 13 captain, and his entirety was that of a normal shinigami, not a hint of the Hollow-like creature in his wake.

"I know you've seen through it all from the beginning," the brunette inclined his head, his tone was leisurely and his demeanor languid. It was infuriating. A _puppet_ shouldn't have such audacity.

He noticed the brunet had opened the Garganta that engulfed what remained of Coyote Starrk and Tier Harribel, the conflicting group some feet away seemingly oblivious of the act—another obvious sign of his complete hypnosis. He scoffed. _Sentiment_.

Yet the Tennō, vastly powerful that he was, could feel the creeping heaviness of power being exuded from the man before him. The surrounding area was already decimated beyond recognition from Aizen's _reiatsu_, the life of the forest around them turned into ashes while the other shinigami was made completely unaware. He had his Zanpakuto's _shikai_ activated the entire time. The entire forest was still barely intact only because of his masterful control of his _reiatsu_.

Even Kurosaki Ichigo, who everyone thought would be impervious to the hypnosis having never seen the _shikai_ release of Kyoka Suigetsu, succumbed to its control. Because Aizen had completely fused with his zanpakuto, long before the battle had even begun. He had tricked every single one of them, barring the Tennō Himself. Only because He was a singular being that foresaw all that exists.

Renji was right that he put the Hōgyoku inside him before. But not all of it. A fragment, perhaps, that manipulated the mind and a bridge of connection between Aizen and the rest of the world, if he so wished it.

Truly, a false imitation of the Tennō's own, he knew, yet dauntingly threatening all the same. For such a lowly creature to be able to do a fraction of the god's own capabilities. An ant encroaching on His throne.

It was unacceptable. _And yet_—

"You're unable to do anything," Aizen taunted relentlessly, "you are vulnerable here," a dark, satisfied glint in his brown eyes. It was entirely ironic, that a normal-looking man could be so vastly more dangerous than the alien creature he had 'turned' into previously.

The Tennō lifted his head in mocking condescension, at the puny being before him—_immortal_, he sneered at the thought, like _He_ was. "I can bring you with me to my realm. And I can crush you under my foot like the insect you are."

"But you won't" Aizen's smile widened, he circled the being as if a predator playing with his prey, "because I've seen through you, _Tennō_," he said mockingly.

The 'Aizen' in the battlefield took off to the sky as well, followed by an enraged Yamamoto and Yoruichi. Urahara Kisuke stood still for a moment before he, too, speeded upwards. It seemed that the commander was about to unleash his flaming zanpakuto. Only the two of them were left on the ground.

None of that really mattered much to the Tennō. The pest by his side was enough to cause him a headache—if only he was capable of such _humane_ things. It was odd that the shinigami hadn't tried to attack him just yet, was he so arrogant in his capabilities? Or was he simply a barking dog foolish enough to tread on the path of a _deity_?

"You need me, because you wish to destroy your vessel," the brunette threw with a knowing smirk, rejoicing in the clenching fists and the low growl the other let out.

"your bounds,"

"...but you _'are not allowed to' _risk letting Renji know," Aizen stopped. He looked straight into the being's eyes, straight into his _souls._

"And that's your weakness."

* * *

Kuchiki Byakuya stood still in his cocoon of darkness. The beast—the Chaos roared in front of him, taunting him in his bounds. It threatened to take over completely, the Light in his core flickered, the warmth of Renji's soul growing cold. It would not be long before they vanished completely and he was consumed. He closed his eyes.

_Renji. _

"We need to get him up further," Renji urged, looking anxiously at the battle that seemed to be taking place further away from where they were. Yamamoto's Ryujin Jakka was enough trouble on its own, if Byakuya's Chaos were to make contact with it—the consequences would be damning for everyone involved.

He could feel the Light wavering inside Byakuya, the chaos lashing about the Light that shielded him, making sure that Ichigo and Rukia were further away to not get caught in the dark energy. He bit his lip in concern—they needed to hurry up.

Ichigo furrowed his brow, his fingers twitching around Zangetsu. "But Aizen—"

"Okay, you go," Renji cut off quickly, "I need to stabilize Byakuya."

That seemed to do the trick. "I'm not leaving you."

And the redhead suspected he would need all the help that he could get, anyway.

Renji nodded, and then turning his face to the smaller raven, "Rukia, you can handle it, can't you?" He knew that she would not be left behind, and he would be damned if he let her fight against Aizen—not after what happened to her under his manipulation with the whole Hōgyoku fiasco. But it wasn't as if she was any safer going with Renji. He simply had to trust that Rukia would be less likely to be immediately killed with him than fighting with Aizen. He cursed that the other captains would let her go, in the first place. He knew she was strong enough, but his brotherly instinct to protect her yelled at him to send her back before she was hurt. He would simply have to bear with it and trust her strength.

"You remember who you're talking to?" the disgruntled raven sneered, even as she was struggling to hold back a shudder at being so close to the ravenous energy coming from her adoptive brother's form. Ichigo's energizing _reiatsu_ was the only reason she could be standing upright as she was.

She truly was surrounded by monsters.

Meanwhile further away in the vast sky, Yamamoto Genryuusai along with Shihouin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke was engaged in what seemed to be the battle of their lives against Aizen Sousuke.

Swords clashing against impossibly hardened armor of Aizen Sousuke's new-found form, and a ring of fire extended across a wide area in the sky—shrouded from mortal eyes only due to the supernatural nature of the flame—surrounding the four battling shinigami.

They had been at the creature for what _felt_ like hours, with no end in sight. Aizen hadn't used Kyoka Suigetsu's powers yet—or perhaps they simply couldn't have known any difference, and had been under the hypnotic influence the entire time. Perhaps it had only been several minutes instead of hours as Kisuke's internal clock provided him, even as he unleashed Benihime's deadly magenta stripes of energy at the Hollow-like man.

Yoruichi was in her Thunder God form, blitzing through the air and all around Aizen in hopes to confuse him, and attacks with deadly precision and lightning speed rained down the man, but it seemed as if he was always one step in front of her. In front of them all.

"Kisuke, cero!" Yoruichi warned with a shout just in time for Kisuke to avoid the humongous blast of energy that headed his way. The blast was frighteningly powerful, more so than Ichigo's own in his Hollowfied form. It pierced the air at a downward angle and flew to the ground five hundred feet below them, tearing through the forest line several hundred feet more before dissipating. It left a huge, gaping maw on the surface, surrounded by torched and broken trees, incinerated debris in its wake.

"Bakudo #99, Kin!" Kisuke voiced out, eyes piercing and holding a battle-worn glow as he spelled out the high-level _kido_ hastily, forgoing the incantation that he knew would boost its strength three-fold. They didn't have time.

The spell caught its target, to his relief, as Aizen was too focused on dodging and parrying Yamamoto's flaming zanpakuto and Yoruichi's multiple _shunko_ kicks and punches in rapid succession. Black, spiritual fabric wrapped around Aizen's entire body, having been in the air, bolts of metal shafts instead attached themselves around the bound form and pierced into the body. Yoruichi flashed an agitated look at the commander that screamed 'YOUR TURN!', which Yamamoto had no further need of encouragement about.

"_Taimatsu_," the old commander growled, brandishing his flaming Ryujin Jakka and unleashing one of his zanpakuto's _shikai_ moves. It was a blessing that they were high up in the sky, indeed, because the entire forest would be scorched beyond recognition if they were still down there. The massive inferno that was produced by the most powerful zanpakuto in Soul Society roared through the sky, drawing the already feeble moisture in the air to drought as it engulfed its victim in its blaze.

Aizen let out an inhuman scream, unable to dodge the finishing move due to his bounds, and the war commander stood to watch in utter satisfaction that the treacherous bastard burn to ashes. Kisuke and Yoruichi stood on to watch the horrifying spectacle grimly, yet relief flooded their blood as they thought perhaps it was over.

It was not. It was never that simple.

Aizen's dying screams subdued until it was silent within the tumultuous wall of undying flame. And in a perplexing, surreal show, the roaring inferno grew weaker and smaller as it was _absorbed_ into the completely whole, and undamaged being inside that was freed from the _bakudo_ bindings due to the sheer power of Yamamoto's flame—a being that was not Aizen Sousuke, not in the slightest.

Instead, an Arrancar with wide planes for its limbs and narrow, skeletal structure with a tall mask covering the upper half of its face, purplish horns sprouting from within the mask and jutted out. Wisps of blond hair could be seen floating behind the mask, and what could be the face of a young boy, if not for his ghastly figure, stared at them hollowly behind the blackened, twin holes of the mask.

As if a fog had been lifted, Yamamoto zeroed in on a spot on the ground, a figure standing some feet away from the blasted Tennō, a man with brown hair smirking in glee as if a grand spectacle occurred before his very eyes.

He was toying with them all along.

"**Aizen Sousuke**!" Yamamoto roared in rage as he plunged into the ground, fully intending to punch a hole into Aizen's entire being and down the Earth's core, Tennō be damned.

But as he dived in unbelievable speed towards the brunet, time seemed to slow, and he could see the condescension in Aizen's glimmering orbs and his sneering lips. His eyes widened albeit a fraction, as his right fist bore through the air and aiming for the bastard's head, knowing it was all or nothing—

Brown eyes flashed and a hand caught the deathly fist and before Yamamoto could even _react_, he was slammed down to the ground in lightning speed and his entire body ricochet back again before the back of that very same hand slammed against his chest and he was sent hammering deep into the torched ground, all air knocked out of his body as blood sputtered out of his lips.

The two shinigami still hovering above felt tremendous dread chilling down their spine as they, too, landed on the ground in a flash to gauge the extent of the old commander's injury. They couldn't do with him being out of commission so soon, as they had only revealed the true Aizen before them. The Aizen that seemed to be vastly more terrifying than the Hollow-like image he had created in his illusion.

They gazed warily at the deity standing behind Aizen with the stillness of a statue, and briefly entertained the notion that perhaps the Tennō would be able to assist them in any way. But the being was frozen in space and time, even as He watched the events happening before him, His eyes cold and that of an uncaring god. Kisuke wondered what secrets lied under the stoic guise—and if the 'god' could be trusted.

He knew it was for naught, if anything that Ichimaru Gin told them was true. The Tennō was not to interfere with the affairs of mortals. The fact that Aizen looked quite amiable to be standing so near to the immovable being was disturbing—they thought he sought to destroy the deity.

The Arrancar also landed on the ground softly, standing right next to Aizen as he petted its head like an animal. The Arrancar seemed to have no control of its own mind, its stance was calm even under the pressure of Aizen's tremendous, albeit finely controled _reiryoku_, and had not uttered a single, intelligible word so far. Yet it was able to withstand one of the most deadly blows ever executed, by the most powerful shinigami.

"I created this Arrancar specifically for you, Yamamoto-dono," Aizen explained to the wounded commander, who seemed to be gaining his bearings with his immeasurable _reiryoku_.

"—to cancel your zanpakuto's abilities."

The shinigami commander snapped his eyes open at that, his nose flaring in fury at the disgraceful words Aizen Sousuke had dared to throw at him, the first Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, the strongest shinigami known with the strongest zanpakuto ever forged. The very zanpakuto that could destroy the very world they stood on if only he let his _Bankai_ activated for mere hours—the one reason why he would not dare to release his full strength, why he never fought his battles in Seireitei, where his flaming _reiatsu_ would command a chain reaction with the dense _reishi. _Not after the last war.

Yet Aizen was not amused by the pride and rage he saw in the commander's eyes, nor was he perturbed. The light glee in his eyes dimmed and turn cold and barren. He nudged the Arrancar forward, the simple notion strong enough to send it tumbling down several feet in front of him.

"Wonderweiss Margela."

Wonderweiss straightened up, as if a puppet, when Aizen called for its name and turned its monstrous head towards the reason of its existence. It let out an unintelligible gurgling noise.

"_Daa-ah."_

Struck in a sudden fit of indignation, Yamamoto pushed away from the supporting hands of Kisuke and Yoruichi from his person, snapping the blade of his zanpakuto to his side as he charged ahead. However, as the old commander tried to cut through the Arrancar, Ryujin Jakka's flame would not manifest and engulf the blade with its glowing blaze. The Hollow easily caught the naked sword, to Yamamoto's surprise, and tossed it out of his stunned hand.

Ryujin Jakka was effectively sealed.

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

Okay, this chapter is pretty long so I split it into two separate chapters. Enjoy? xd


	27. Chapter 27 - Full Circle Part 2

Chapter 27 – Full Circle Part 2

* * *

The sky was getting darker by the second, clouded with more than just gloomy, heavy clouds, and the sun invisible as thunder roiled across the horizon. Dark energy floated and surrounded the figures hovering in the air, several miles above the ground. The altitude was suffocating for mere mortals, but it was not the reason why a certain redheaded shinigami and his two friends had trouble breathing the polluted air.

"You gotta be shitting me," he cursed deeply, "the Chaos is eating away at the Light I put in his core."

Ichigo snarled as the frozen raven in Renji's arm let out another bout of suffocating dark tendrils of energy, polluting the air with its destructive fumes. It was all he had to struggle and reign in the dark energy from spreading across the horizon and into the human-populated areas all around them with his own _reiryoku,_ all the while partly shielding his petite friend from the direct lashings of the energy lest she was consumed by Chaos.

On her end, Rukia grunted as she, too, lent her spiritual prowess to barricade the entire area with all the _kido_ spells that she knew. Renji was within a _bakudo_ barrier that she created in hopes of staving off the majority of the Chaotic energy. But even with her putting in more of her energy into the barrier, and Renji canceling out the Chaos with his own _reiryoku _and Light, it still managed to seep through and chipped off the barrier bit by bit.

"What's the situation in there?" Ichigo shouted at his friend from within the glowing barrier, dark fumes of energy almost entirely covering the two forms in its haze, even the glow of Light that Ichigo alone could see was dimmed significantly.

"Not good. He'll be consumed by the dark energy if this continues," Renji threw back as loudly as he could, a deep frown settled on his face, "he'll return to be—_fuck_!"

"Renji!" Rukia yelled in alarm, startled by the pained curse that her friend sputtered out. The two shinigami outside of the barrier stood still in silence, waiting for an answer, anything at all to signal their friend's well-being.

"I'm fine!"

They sighed in relief.

Renji clenched his hands around the raven's shoulders, a grim line in his mouth. A densely packed Chaotic energy just caught him off guard and struck his back as he was barely able to dodge it with his arms still caging in the raven. He could feel the energy seeping into his robes and creeping down his core, if his Light didn't come in just in time to purify it.

It was getting stronger, and soon, it would be too strong for Renji to keep up with.

Byakuya would return to be a mindless beast. And nothing to reign him in.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, knowing what he had to do if they want to have a chance at the world's survival.

"I won't let this happen," he vowed to himself, reaching deep within the recess of his Light core, pulling every ounce of the energy out of him as much as he could.

Suddenly Light glowed brighter and brighter from within the barrier, purifying the excess Chaos until not a spec of darkness was left, and the _kido_ barrier was broken free.

Ichigo shielded his eyes from the blinding Light, almost a similar experience from when he was first engulfed in it and the _Tenfuku_ was bestowed upon him. Rukia, however, was confused at the display, unseeing of the blinding glow, yet her surprise grew nonetheless as the barrier she put up was broken, but no Chaotic energy was found. Renji was where she last saw him, cradling her adoptive brother's body in his arms.

For a moment, the air felt light and comforting. But then she saw red dripping down Renji's mouth, and the tremor that shook his frame as his eyes shut close.

Rukia started, but hesitant to jump close lest Chaos struck her. The evidence of her experience showed in the tattered, ripped edge of her _shihakusho_ that showed her tender, bruised ribs from accidental contact with one of the weaker tendrils of the energy. If Ichigo didn't cut in and surrounded her with his strangely energizing _reiatsu_, she suspected it would have done more damage.

"Renji, what are you doing?" she shouted from her position, eyeing between her brother's slumped down body in the redhead's arms and Ichigo's curled form next to her, his arms shielding his face and he let out grunts of pain.

"The only thing I know," the redhead said, unwilling to distract himself from focusing on channeling large bursts of Light into Byakuya. He knew Ichigo was probably in pain from all the Light he was exuding, blinding his eyes and lashing at his core—but at least the nature of his Light was not destructive. Even as he grew wearier at the excessive amount of energy he was putting through, he knew he couldn't slow down. He was battling Chaos with his Light. As much as he wished for it, Zabimaru would prove to be useless in this fight.

"I gave him my soul when he was but a creature of Chaos," he grunted, coughing up more blood. The more energy output he pushed out, the more damage he was doing to his own, mortal body. He needed to be careful to not put too much strain in himself, lest he died before the Light could tame the rampant Chaos.

"So maybe if I put more of my soul inside of him, I can tame the beast."

Ichigo, even crouched and with his eyes shut down tightly, could hear the alarming information that Renji gave them, and he stood up, still shielding his eyes from the overwhelming Light.

"Are you kidding me? You can die from this!" he protested. He wished that he was not Blessed, because what was this Blessing if it was not a curse that rendered him useless in his moment of truth? Renji was giving his life energy away and he was unable to do anything. Zangetsu was complaining about the overflow of the heavenly energy threatening to overtake his own, his natural instinct screamed at him to push out the invading energy, to lash out, but he forced himself to back down. Renji was not an enemy.

Rukia, hearing the horrifying implication from Ichigo's mouth, moved to protest as she gave Renji a piece of her mind.

"Renji, I know you are a lot smarter than you let on but this is too risky!"

He ignored the first part of her comment, closing his eyes. He was resolute, and he wished she would understand why he needed to do this.

"I don't want him to destroy the world, Rukia."

He could feel himself growing weaker, knowing that if Chaos didn't let up soon, he would use up all his Light. The sheer vastness of the dark energy welling inside Byakuya's form was jarring to witness. He didn't know if he could tame the endless destructive energy with his feeble attempt, didn't know if putting slivers of his soul in the Light could help. Panic grew in him but he stomped it down before it could creep its gnarly webs around his nervous heart.

"You two can help me. Just, just pour in your _reiatsu_ towards me so I can keep a steady flow of energy, all right?" the redhead explained hurriedly, and adding for a good measure, "it doesn't _have_ to be risky."

Sensing the urgency in Renji's voice, Ichigo and Rukia made up their minds and nodded.

"I'm gonna channel my _reishi_ through Rukia, and hers to you," Ichigo shouted, crouching behind the raven-haired girl. It was a silly position to be caught in, crouching behind a girl half his size, but it was the only way he could focus enough to summon his _reishi_ and control it without being constantly blinded by the Light—her body blocked most of the blinding glow. Rukia, bless her soul, didn't comment anything as she, too, tapped within her _reiryoku_ pool and pull the spiritual energy out. She put her palms as she summoned her _reishi_ to that point of her body, and propelled the concentrated energy to Renji.

But when Ichigo's own _reishi_ was driven to her core, she could feel her breath hitched as she gasped for breath. Her eyes widen, the sheer force of the endless energy coursing into her body was tremendous—she felt as if she could take on a hundred Arrancars and still be up for a hundred more. Was this how Ichigo felt all the time? To be a conduit of such raw and vast pool of energy? It took all of her to not simply let the energy explode all around her, her teeth gritted as she fought the adrenaline rush that coursed through her veins. It was exhilarating... yet terrifying.

"It'll help if only one of us can do a decent sealing technique to keep him from struggling," the redhead complained as he grunted, the Chaos energy lashing about him, being the nearest one to the source of the energy. Ichigo's and Rukia's _reishi_ helped to significantly reduce his strain, but he was still using up an incredulous amount of his Light to fight off the recesses of Chaos that threatened to lash out.

He sensed Urahara Kisuke's _reiatsu_ before the blond shinigami coming up behind him even manage to announce his arrival. "I can help you with a _kido _seal."

"Urahara," Renji nodded, not even sparing a surprised exclamation, "you're gonna need to put your ass into it though. He can break free easily."

Urahara nodded, even though he knew the redhead couldn't see it.

Yoruichi sent him flying up when she noticed the tide of the battle had changed, now that they knew Aizen had put them under his complete hypnosis before. It was clear that fighting them wasn't his objective, and it would be a waste of time for all three of them to be engaging Aizen when Kuchiki Byakuya would be a much greater threat at the moment. He could feel the raw, destructive force welling inside—and outside—the Kuchiki when they first arrived, and it was now made clear that they needed to calm whatever forces made him become so volatile, before it was too late.

"Bakudo #99, _kin_," the blonde shinigami muttered from his side, away from Byakuya's destructive force so he could steadily channel his _reiatsu_ to keep the seal up.

But it seemed as if he underestimated the extent of the raw power of Kuchiki Byakuya's energy. Within a minute, the seal was broken with an explosion of Chaotic spirit that was quickly reigned in with some inexplicable force that he suspected was the nature of the Seika's Light energy.

"Again!" Renji shouted, the struggling Chaos grew in feverous zeal from the initial burst after being momentarily sealed.

"Damn it," Urahara cursed uncharacteristically, readying himself for another seal.

"Bakudo #99, _kin!_"

"Keep it up," Ichigo yelled from where he was crouching, putting more juice into his _reiatsu_, "Hat-and-clogs, you better not be failing now!'

Rukia groaned at the sudden surge of Ichigo's _reiatsu _entering her in waves, her arms trembling as the Seika seemed to be absorbing more and more of her and Ichigo's _reiryoku_ than what she willingly gave. "Renji—!"

"Hold... on," Renji grunted, his own heart beating erratically and his breathing grew frantic, blood steadily dribbling down his lips but he got no time to think about it. Organ failure would be the least of his concerns of this squabble didn't end soon. The seal broke once again and Renji readied himself for another rampant burst of energy.

Kisuke took a shuddering breath at having to do such a complex spell multiple times in a row. And the fact that his _reiryoku_ was also deliberately being absorbed right from his core whenever the Chaos managed to break the seal and reached for him, as if it knew that he was responsible. Still, he squared his shoulders and stepped up once more.

An unexpected burst of Chaos lashed out at him, stealing a large chunk of his _reishi_ reserve and turning it into its own. He could hear Abarai and the others calling out his name as he fell to his knees.

"Bakudo... #99... _kin," _he gasped out with a trembling voice, his _reiryoku _was barely enough to keep him from plummeting down miles away.

Knowing that Urahara was out, Renji screamed aloud as he put more power to his Light, feeling the combined _reishi_ he was receiving from Ichigo and Rukia entering him and being converted into his energy. It was their last shot.

It was the same time that they felt a tremor, a loud booming sound coming from under them before hot air rushed towards them, almost to the point of blistering. Something happened in the battle below them, but they were too preoccupied with what was in front of them to care at that moment.

Only when he felt the Chaos tamed down, the whispers of dark energy retreating back into Byakuya's core and swirling with his own Light did the redhead stopped. He slumped against the raven's still frozen form, minding the _Shōken_ still in the other's grasp. A pair of hands curled around his back and he sighed.

"You... _asshole_," the lieutenant rasped, punching the raven on his chest, "you absorb our energy like a sea sponge dammit."

Byakuya opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. Urahara Kisuke was chuckling weakly on one knee, his face partially covered by the striped hat he was wearing. His beloved sister was looking at him in relief, and he could see the glistening in her eyes—tears. Kurosaki Ichigo—his mouth curled in contempt and his eyes narrowed—was standing up from behind her small figure, with the audacity to put his hand on her shoulder and standing so close to her.

A light pinch to his side got him looking down to the tired redhead who he held in his arms, glaring at him as if saying 'don't you even start'. His emotions soothed, and he let his lips quirked to a not-quite smile, worry edging his furrowed brows at the thin trail of blood dribbling down the Seika's mouth and he thumbed away a stray scarlet strand on the pale, sweat-dampened face. He hurt Renji again. And for the third time in his lifetime, he said,

"Forgive me."

* * *

A shocked, scandalized voice echoed in the First Division Captain's office.

"He left on his own?!"

"With Kuchiki Rukia," Kyoraku quipped cheerily, "Shihouin and Urahara are there too."

"Yamamoto-dono ordered us to stand guard here," Ukitake placated the still fuming captain, "it will be too risky if we leave with him."

"He's our greatest line of defense," Captain Soi Fon grounded out.

Lieutenant Sasakibe Chojiro watched the interactions between the captain before him calmly. If he was a lesser man, he would sigh in exasperation. They had two war prisoners to take care of, and they still worry about things that were not of their immediate concern. If it was any other duties and the commander was there, he surely would admonish them for their negligence.

"No," Kyoraku shook his head somberly, looking at Ukitake as If they knew something the younger captain didn't, "Ryujin Jakka will engulf Seireitei in its flames if the Captain-Commander were to fight here."

And it was true. The younger captains had never experienced the terrible power of Ryujin Jakka—fully realized potential by the courtesy of the Seika's blessing. They never witnessed the horror as the hellfire engulfed everything in flame, fighting against the forces of... someone they never wished to encounter, ever again. What they witness in the Material World when they fought Aizen before was not even a short glimpse of what the old commander was capable of. And he wouldn't wish the same to happen wherever Yamamoto Genryuusai was fighting now.

"So you would rather him destroying the Material World?"

"I am sure it wouldn't come to that," Sasakibe finally let his thoughts known as he frowned at Soi Fon. He might be a lieutenant but he was _the _lieutenant of the First Division, second to the Captain-Commander himself.

While he was made aware of the history of Soul Society's last war, when the Captain-Commander was not yet who he was, when the Gotei 13 was not even established yet—the destruction it wrought upon the land for centuries to come. It was not pleasant to hear these people talking about the commander as if he was some sort of monster, who couldn't control his power and destroy everything in its path. A mindless beast.

"In the meantime, the prisoners need to be secured," Hitsugaya Toshiro suggested, trying to break the tension in the room. He knew how earnestly loyal Sasakibe was to the commander, it wouldn't do to have an internal conflict at such a precarious time, especially over something quite irrelevant to the matter at hand. And he had to agree with Ukitake, after knowing that Aizen sent the traitors back to surrender themselves, his suspicions arose. Something was amiss, and it would be their utmost humiliation if they played right into Aizen's hands... again. He clenched his fists tightly by his side, his mouth curled into a sneer of contemptation, before he relaxed his posture.

He had been fooled twice by the treacherous bastard, and twice he had been blindly led by his reckless rage to hurt Hinamori. Never again.

"Treason of this caliber can only lead to execution," Komamura Sajin opined, after gauging the lessening tension in the room thanks to Captain Hitsugaya's well-timed remark, even if it was a hard admission to let out. Betrayed as he might feel, Kaname was still a good friend of his. He could only guess what the newly established Central 46 would decree.

"The Sokyoku was destroyed," Ukitake mused, crossing his arms, "I feel as if this was his plan all along."

"_We_ can execute them," Soi Fon pressed. it would be so easy to do. _She _would gladly do it, if the other captains were being cowards—as they always did. She didn't understand how Yoruichi-sama could withstand working with these fools as long as she was. She knew it was the rush of adrenaline and anger talking—she knew better than to challenge the other captains and came out unscathed—but she would rather have the traitors dead than crawling under their noses for a chance of double-crossing them when the mood strikes. Ichimaru was a sly fox, after all. And they knew Tosen was loyal to Aizen.

Kyoraku smiled, an odd glint in his warm eyes. "they may still be of use, alive."

* * *

Shihouin Yoruichi frowned as she watched the Captain Commander parrying blow after blow from the Arrancar that had effectively sealed his zanpakuto. Aizen Sousuke, where he was standing, had an irritatingly smug look that she wished to wipe out of his arrogant face, as he watched the battle like a privileged spectator.

"Fuck this—_Aizen!_" Yoruichi roared, using her _shunko_ for what seemed like the hundredth time in that battle, striking on what she perceived to be Aizen Sousuke.

"That is not me, Shihouin-kun," Aizen smirked in amusement, the tree that she destroyed in his place was only left with a partial stub. They were puppets dancing with the strings he controlled. She glared at him for using such a condescending name, as if she was a helpless academy recruit. _She_ was hundreds of years his senior, goddamnit.

"Don't think you've won just because you managed to seal Ryujin Jakka, you sewer _rat,_" Yamamoto snarled, baring his teeth. Wonderweiss was on him the moment he shifted his attention to Aizen. He grappled the Hollow, tossing it to the side as if it was a rag doll.

He was growing tired of the irritating puppet. Concentrating his _reishi_ on his fists, he charged at the Arrancar. He thrust his two fists together against the stunned Wonderweiss, the force of the _Hakuda _technique was so mountainous that it tore into the Arrancar's impenetrable armor until it was cracked and its _Resurrección_ deactivated by force—revealing the wrecked body of a young, blonde boy.

Yamamoto wished he could feel guilt for destroying what looked like a mere child, but it was only grim satisfaction that mar the glint in his eyes.

Aizen grinned widely at the show the old shinigami put up before him. The _Sokotsu_ technique was truly quite powerful. However, he was not to be outdone.

"Bad move. If you destroy him..." he trailed off, eagerly watching for the signs, as the mangled body of the dead Arrancar started to tremble and glow, blistering hear flickering on his skin.

"He will explode with all the force of your zanpakuto."

Yoruichi's eyes widened in horror. Instinctively she flash-stepped to the remains and kicked it up high into the sky. She whipped her head to Yamamoto. "_Commander_!"

Yamamoto blitzed to the air until he was close enough to the hovering body. "Hado #90, _Kurohitsugi_!"

A large prison of darkness emerged all around the body, spikes of _reiatsu_ pierced into the dark prison, just in time before it exploded, the spell barely able to contain the flames before it shattered.

The force of Ryujin Jakka's contained fire was still tremendous, Yoruichi who was far down the ground still caught in the impact and deathly fire that she was slammed back down, knocking her head against an unyielding cluster of rocks and fell unconscious. Yamamoto bore the brunt of the explosion that tore his left arm as he fell listlessly to the ground.

* * *

The heavenly being watched Aizen's back as the brunet witnessed the fall of Yamamoto Genryuusai with rapt attention—the downfall of the Shihouin noble was not even something worthy of note in his periphery.

"What is your next move, now that you have defeated the commander of Gotei 13 himself?"

Aizen tilted his head up as if in recognition of the ask. The Tennō could practically feel the amusement rolling off the other's figure.

"Oh, don't tell me this isn't at all according to your will," the brunet scoffed, finally turning back to face the being he had sworn to annihilate. His eyes held a peculiar hardness, belying the amused tone of his voice. And as sudden as the wind change, his mood soured and he snarled, striding on wide steps until he was one but a couple of feet away from the colossal deity looming several feet above his own height.

The brunet lashed his destructive _reiatsu_, concentrating on the Tennō's unmoved figure. But there was as if some sort of a barrier that protected the being from Aizen's testament of power, even as the surrounding area was blasted and suffered from his strength. The wind howled, the air seemed to be nonexistent as the dense _reiryoku_ pushed every molecule from the immediate surrounding. Any living being to enter the void space would sooner disintegrate from the force of the _reiatsu_, however, rather than the lack of oxygen.

The Tennō was not ordinary. For that, Aizen's sudden, inexplicable anger was raised to tantamount measures.

"I _will_ kill you," he vowed harshly.

"I will destroy you, and then I will destroy _it_."

Suddenly the dynamic shifted, and he was the one who was lost in his rage whilst the Tennō watched the shinigami before him in something akin to awe. Aizen Sousuke was not in control of his own mind.

"Your megalomania is showing, impudent insect," the deity remarked, an ugly sneer emerged from his lips. He knew now how foolish it was for him to worry about this insignificant being. A creature who held tremendous power, and the potential to destroy the deity himself—yet easily succumbing to mortal desires. Yet the shinigami was still holding himself back from fully unleashing his entirety to destroy the deity. He pondered on the reasoning behind the shinigami's motif, the urge to murder was nigh on the brunet's eyes yet there was something... something that made him wait.

What is it?

Several immense spiritual energy sources entered the vicinity, along with a dark force that was tightly contained—yet hard to miss. It seemed that Chaos was safely subdued.

"What happened here?" Ichigo was first to express his shock as he witnessed the catastrophe. It was as if Byakuya never left the ground, and his Chaos wrought havoc across the entire forest area. He saw the Gotei 13 commander lying unconscious amongst the debris, surrounded by his own blood, his left arm noticeably missing. That must be from the explosion they felt from before.

"Shit."

"Ichigo, here," Rukia called, kneeling down beside a beaten down Yoruichi. It was not as terrible as the Captain Commander, but she knew they needed to take them to the Fourth Division before it was too late.

Renji held Byakuya's hand tight, both to reassure himself—and to stop the raven from losing control if he ever.

"Renji," Aizen's voice called to him, and he faced the brunet, noticeably human-looking and not of the monster he was before. His mouth curled in contempt, realization entered his mind. Kyoka Suigetsu.

They had been under his control, all this time.

But before Aizen could take a step forward, uncaring of the deity he was about to pummel some moments ago, a black _ōdachi_ was thrust in his direction. He snarled.

"Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Not a step closer," Byakuya warned lowly, his clear, red eyes narrowed to slits. He was finally in control of the dark energy within him, and he could feel the blade cutting through thin air, cutting through the shreds of energy of everything it touched. It would destroy souls upon the tiniest sliver of contact, Aizen would not be any different.

"Renji," the brunet turned towards the Seika partially obscured by the raven, "_your blessing._" His eyes were glowing, an odd expectant look in his face.

Renji's eyes widened for a split second, before they closed, and he turned his face away, as if repulsed. After all this time, Aizen was still yearning for the _Tenfuku_.

Something snapped inside Aizen when he watched the Seika turned his face from him. He charged, knowing full well that the _Shōken_ might be able to harm him for real, and he had no physical weapon to defend himself, Kyoka Suigetsu had become a part of himself. Kuchiki Byakuya slashed the large blade across his body, but he used his hands to deflect the blade, feeling it sliced through his very _spirit_, feeling himself being torn apart, only for it to reconstruct itself the next moment.

At that moment, they were shown the immortality that had become of Aizen Sousuke. He grinned wildly, his eyes crazed, and he struck at Byakuya's sword arm with deadly accuracy, the _Shōken_ flew from the shocked raven's grasped and thrown somewhere further away. The red orbs turned black and Renji could feel the Chaos shifting inside Byakuya's core—taking over some control from his own consciousness and Light. He hoped that it would not be the same predicament they experienced mere moments ago, he was too weakened from it that he could only watch the deathmatch in front of him.

It was a furious fistfight from then on, powerful blow after blow was exchanged, creating tremors in the ground and the wind whirled strongly. The sounds they were making were as loud as the thunders rolling in the dark sky, neither of them scathed from the match that deeply cracked the very ground they were fighting on, creating sharp craters and narrow, gully-like cracks several dozens feet deep. Two black blades entered his field of vision and Aizen turned his head to the side, barely managing to dodge a kick from the raven as he snarled at the orange-haired shinigami who dared to interrupt his match.

Ichigo frowned at the brunet. There was something terribly wrong with him. The darkness he felt touching his own _reiryoku_ was eerily similar to when they were taming Byakuya's Chaos. Was the Hōgyoku taking over Aizen's body, after all?

Aizen let out a rumbling noise from his chest. Even if he looked normal, his behavior was turning more and more like a beast. His _reiatsu_ exploded, just in time for Byakuya's own to tank off the majority of the damage. It was still a nightmare-inducing catastrophe. All the trees several hundred feet around them were burnt down to ashes, the crater they were standing on widened and sunk in deeper. The cracks on the ground must have reached the surface of a tectonic plate, as strong earthquakes shook the entire city of Kyoto, and several cities surrounding it. Off the coastlines, the sea level receded, blaring tsunami warnings echoed throughout the area, as citizens were forced to evacuate before the destructive waves hit.

But where they were, in the forest by the edge of Kyoto, everything was still and silent. Renji stood behind the protective barrier of Ichigo and Byakuya, their combined energy shielded the redhead, along with Rukia who was crouching beside the unconscious commander and Yoruichi, her eyes were blown wide and her skin unnaturally pale.

Aizen let out a long breath, gazing across the field to where his two enemies stood in horror. The wretched deity was still standing behind him, by the edge of the crater, as if he was on his side, watching as they readied themselves for another bout—

"Sousuke," Renji said, his eyes were sad. The only sound that echoed in his ears.

"_Sousuke, vengeance clouds your mind!"_

"...stop." The word struck him and he faltered.

_He fought for Renji._

"Don't fight anymore."

_For his smile. For his joyous laughter as he returned from a fight in victory. For his pride as he watched Sousuke as if he was Renji's champion returning from a grand battle in his honor._

It was all that it took.

"_Forgive me, my lord." A sickening twist and crunch of bones cracking under the knife's pressure. More warm tears dripping on his own._

A glowing sword pierced through him, through his soul, and a dozen more followed until he was forced to kneel to the ground. Green cloak entered his vision, eyes filled with pity, shadowed by a familiar bucket hat, and the sound of wooden sandals on the burnt ground was the last thing he heard.

His eyes closed in resignation.

_He was so..._

_close._

* * *

He had thought that he was playing a game of chess.

He had thought that he was the champion of good.

Maybe that was why his guardian angel left him.

In the end, what he searched for was not justice...

It was petty revenge.

_._

_._

_._

_Checkmate._

* * *

\- _to be continued -_

* * *

So... I'm sorry for the late update. Ehe.

I do hope you enjoy this chapter, notice the throwback references I made, yada yada, because this would be the penultimate chapter. Yep. *brain explodes*  
So, uh, yeah. I honestly don't know what to say here lol but I suspect you'll have to wait for the last chapter. I hope I can do it justice :

And forgot one last thing! I'm moving to Ao3 under the name Dev14, and will not be posting new stories on this account anymore (or until further notice, we'll see). Of course, I will finish GUARDIAN here, so don't worry! But I already have a couple of new stories up on my Ao3, so you can check them out!

And if you're interested, you can join a Bleach Discord served called the Seireitei that I'm a part of too! It's fun and everyone is so chaotic-I mean nice. Here's the link (just removed the spaces): discord. gg /hzsdXyW

Please let me know if the link doesn't work, and see you there!


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